


Super Late Gajevy Love Week 2017

by olddarkmachine



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff, Smut, because it's been a minute and i gotta get my sea legs back LOL, but not in this one, there's eventually gonna be smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-27 22:54:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10818450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olddarkmachine/pseuds/olddarkmachine
Summary: So basically I've been on writing hiatus for a really long time and haven't been inspired to write anything until I fell into Fairy Tail and Gajevy. Send help. Since I haven't written any fic since.... a real long time ago.... I decided that instead of jumping in with a full blown fic, I would tackle this Gajevy challenge. I'm pretty sure I'm like two months tardy to this party, but I figure it's better late than never?Please also note that I'm pretty new to Gajevy so if at any point I do something that is just wrong, please let me know! Comments and constructive criticism are welcomed with open arms!





	1. Warm-up Prompt: AU

**Author's Note:**

> There will be eventual smut. So be warned. I'll put warnings on those chapters. But things start off pretty damn fluffy. Because I still need to get my writing sea legs back.

As far as jobs went, being a pet sitter wasn’t all too bad. Sure, the days were long if you actually wanted to make any money, and the driving all over the place sucked, but the freedom of being able to work when you wanted and to be paid to hangout with other people’s pets honestly made up for it. Levy had been a pet sitter for about six months now and while she certainly hadn’t moved into the city to do it, it was paying the bills while she was pitching her movie ideas around town. Weirdly enough, she’d ended up pet sitting for big names in the industry and though she never actually met any of them-- they probably wouldn’t need her services if they were home-- it did seem pretty cool to know she was still just one degree away. 

 

The house she was currently headed to was one of her regulars. The owner, one Mr. Gajeel Redfox, had been gone for about two months now and requested that he have the same sitter as much as possible. Given that she worked six days a week, the man’s visits ended up on her schedule more often than not. She was going to really miss seeing Pantherlily almost everyday when his owner finally returned. (Now that she thought about it, she was sure he was supposed to be home soon.) He almost felt like her cat at this point. In fact, she almost felt like she even knew this Redfox character too. She could deduce from the dark furniture, clothes abandoned in various areas around the apartment, and lack of sentimental items such as photos that he was most likely a bachelor. A bachelor with money given he had an apartment overlooking the ocean with walls made entirely of windows just to look out over them, and the ability to pay for visits twice a day for two months straight. She quickly did the math in her head as she pulled into a guest parking spot in the parking garage for the man’s apartment complex and shuddered. She could pay her rent in her apartment with her three roommates for almost five months with what he’d paid for the visits for so long.

 

“Must be nice,” she mumbled to herself as she hopped out of her car. Locking the door and clipping her keys to her belt loop-- she had a really nasty habit of locking her keys in her car and learned this was the best way to avoid anymore unfortunate incidents-- she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head and on top of her scarf she had had tied around her azure hair to keep it pulled back. Walking into the lobby through the door in the garage, she nodded to the man at the counter as she sauntered by. He’d stopped having her sign in after a few weeks, knowing full well that she had the code to the lockbox on the Redfox residence’s door and that if she did do something terrible the security could easily apprehend her. (Her small frame was both a blessing and a curse with this job, not that she would ever steal from a client, but it would be nice to know she could at least have a small semblance of a chance to get away if she did.) 

 

She got into the elevator and pressed the button for the 5th floor and waited for the short ride up. Levy admired herself in the reflection of the mirrored elevator, and chuckled to herself as she took in her disheveled hair that tried to escape her scarf, the worn jeans with a stain from an earlier visit and her shirt emblazoned with her company’s logo. The first time she’d arrived to this visit she had been so self conscious and had felt so out of place. She had been certain that for a second the people at the front must have thought she was a homeless person wandering into their lobby, especially since she distinctly remembered she hadn’t showered that day and had pulled on her oldest pair of sneakers and some sweats. It wasn’t like the pets cared if she tried, but had she’d known she was going to end up some place like this, she would have at least brushed her hair. How quickly that had changed with time. Now she felt almost like she was returning to her own home. It helped that she always started her days and ended her days with Lily. It was just a short walk from the elevator to the front door, where she quickly pushed the numbers into the box so she could open the little door that would allow her to get the key. 

 

As she started to unlock the door, she heard the purring that signaled the black cat was awaiting her just on the other side and the sound filled her with joy. His owner wasn’t one to respond to updates, but he had replied once and all he had said was that Lily didn’t like just anybody. That was pretty obvious just by looking over the updates that had been sent in on the days Levy didn’t work as the sitter that covered her shifts when she wasn’t working had yet to meet Lily at all. 

 

“Hello handsome,” she cooed as she pushed her way into the apartment. The Bombay purred again in response as he started to rub himself against her legs. Squatting down, she started to pet him to make sure he remembered that even though his owner still wasn’t home he was still very much loved. “You’re the best way to end the day, ya know.” 

 

“So I’ve been told,” a deep voice replied. Now, Levy liked to think she was very rational. When faced with a problem, she was very level headed, and thought through every possible scenario of what could happen and every possible solution to find the right one. But in that moment, the only possible explanation that came to her mind was that Lily had just responded to her. Which, was definitely new to say the least. She stared at the cat wide-eyed for a fraction of a second longer before the logical part of her brain realized she wasn’t the only human in the apartment. An inhuman squeak that could probably only be heard by Lily and any other animals in the close vicinity escaped her lips as her head snapped up to see a very tall, very muscular, and very half naked man standing in the entrance between the living area and the bedroom where Lily’s stuff could be found. He had long black hair that looked almost as unruly as hers was, eyes that seemed to stare straight through her, and more piercings than should could count. (And that was just from what she could see. Not that she was thinking about any she might not be able to see. Except, he was very attractive.) 

 

“I-” she started, before locking eyes with the man and completely losing her train of thought. After another couple of seconds she just placed her hand on her chest and said “Pet sitter.” 

 

_Wow Lev_ , she thought to herself as dryly as one can possibly think to themselves, _you write entire movies with their own worlds and characters and you can’t even string together a full sentence_. There was another long pause before the man burst out into raucous laughter. 

 

“I am so sorry,” he said, smiling at her. His smile was like the smile of a devil, beautiful and dangerous. “I forgot to inform your office that I was getting home early and that I didn’t need the visit this evening.” 

 

This was when she should respond, she knew that. It was just that that damn smile had erased any thoughts from her mind, at least all the ones that wouldn’t get her in trouble for saying out loud. Even that annoying ass voice in her mind was dumbfounded. It was possible that since it had been so long since she’d even had any contact with the opposite sex, but he was the single most sexy human being she had ever seen. It was that, or she was cat sitting for an actual sex god. That was also a possibility. After everything they’d been though, you’d have thought Lily would have told her. 

 

“Since you’re here, if you want you can still spend the 30 minutes with him. You don’t need to feed him or anything, I already took care of that,” the sex god continued, apparently unaware he had the power to strike mere mortals speechless. “You must be the girl he seems to love. He’s a great judge of character, you know.”

 

That snapped her out of the trance as a smile broke across her face. 

 

“Thanks!” She beamed in response. “I love this little guy. I’m not supposed to pick favorites, but between you and me, he’s mine.” She stage whispered at the end and winked. Oh god, what had even gotten into her. She looked back at Lily and smiled at him as well before scratching behind his ears. Had she continued looking at his owner, she’d have seen the blush that spread across his cheeks. 

 

“Well, make yourself at home, I suspect you know where water is if you’d like to have some,” Gajeel said. “I just got back and was headed for the shower, feel free to leave early if you want, just lock up when you go.” She nodded in response as he turned to go back into the room. She sat down next to Lily, who at this point had laid down and rolled over to get his belly scratched. “Oh, and Levy?” Her heart leapt when she heard her name roll off his tongue.

 

“Yeah?” She asked, looking up. The man smiled that damn smile again.

 

“Thanks for taking such good care of Lil while I was away. I know I’m not supposed to pick favorites either, but between you and me, you’re mine.”

And with that, he went back into his room, unaware that he had just completely stopped her heart and left her there like she wasn’t going to need medical attention. Once she heard the water turn on in the bathroom, she looked down at Lily, who was looking up at her and wondering why she’d stopped scratching his belly.

 

“You really could have warned me about your owner looking like that.”

 

****

 

He knew that the sitter would be gone by the time he got out of his shower, but that didn’t stop him from being slightly disappointed when he got out of his shower and saw Lily curled up on the foot of his bed all by himself. He didn’t want to say he was jealous of a fucking cat, but here he was jealous that his cat got to spend so much time with such a breathtaking human being.

 

“God dammit, Lil,” he growled as his heart stuttered when he thought of her wink. “You really could have warned me about your sitter looking like that.”


	2. Day 1: Missed Opportunities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOOOW leave it to me to start a daily challenged for a week and fuck up on posting ON THE VERY REAL DAY OF THE CHALLENGE. Sorry y'all. This originally was a One Night Stand prompt. Until I realized jumping head first into smut was not doable at my current writing state. SO IT BECAME MISSED OPPORTUNITIES AND Y'ALL CAN JUST HAVE SOME HEAVY MAKING OUT.

It had been a long, goddamn day. Levy’s back was aching, her muscles were tense, and honestly, she was certain she probably smelled a little bit. This was the last time she EVER agreed to take on a job with Team Natsu. There wouldn’t be too much running, they’d said. You wouldn’t need to do too much fighting, they’d said. There definitely wasn’t going to be that much trouble, they’d said. That’s when she should have known to back out, when they’d very obviously lied about the amount of trouble they were going to get into. Who had they been kidding, they couldn’t even walk into the guild without getting into trouble, let alone walking into “an old cave that may or may not turn out to be a tomb.” She should have known that at some point she’d end up dodging fire, running for her life, and rolling down the side of a mountain. Well she had done her time, and they had survived, and now she was going to treat herself to a drink. Or two. Possibly three? Who was counting anyway, she fucking deserved it. Goddammit. And if she ended up in someone else’s room tonight to help her work out those kinks stupid Natsu and his stupid team had made her get, well she fucking deserved that too.

 

Goddammit.

 

To be honest, she wasn’t normally the type to end up at the first dive bar she could find after a mission. (Though, she also wasn’t normally the type to end up on missions where demons chased people through caves, but apparently today just wasn’t a normal kind of day.) She sighed deeply before downing the rest of her old fashioned and signaled the bartender for another as it burned its way down her throat and fell warm into her stomach. It was like she had a fire in her belly. Levy giggled as she imagined Natsu saying his stupid catchphrase. Maybe she should cut herself off, she thought as she realized the world was slightly spinning. Another whiskey appeared in front her. Well there goes that plan.

 

Thanks to the whiskey, her muscles were finally relaxing and the long ass day was fading into the back of her memory when she heard the door get thrown open, and what little chatter that had been happening in the bar died. Normally she would have minded her own business, but, well...

 

Levy twirled around on her stool, and felt time stop around her. Standing in the doorway,was Gajeel. He’d been a part of Fairy Tail now for about a year, and while she had forgiven him for The Incident, it still felt as if he hadn’t forgiven himself and though they were friendly enough it still felt like he kept her at arm’s length. Normally, the bluenette respected his wishes and kept things strictly friendly between them, but the whiskey was saying otherwise today. She felt his crimson eyes burning into her very core as every nerve ending in her body ached with a primal fire. A small voice in the back of her head wondered why he was even here in this random bar in the middle of nowhere a hundred miles away from Magnolia. That small voice didn’t care enough to press the issue though. She lightly bit the corner of her bottom lip, enjoying the way his eyes flickered to her mouth. Maybe it was the alcohol, but for a second his eyes looked almost as hungry as she felt, and it was all the invitation her and her liquid courage needed. Breaking the stare that had felt like they’d held for years, she hopped off her stool-- slightly shocked she was able to land so stealthily-- and sauntered her way over to him. (At least, she thought she sauntered. Her body was thrumming with alcohol and excitement and she couldn’t really feel her legs. But she imagined she sauntered.) 

 

“Hey there, Dragon Slayer.” The sultry, husky voice that said the words even shocked Levy. The screaming she’d done earlier while falling down that mountain must have really done a number on her vocal chords, though she did have to remember to thank Team Natsu for making her voice sound sexy for the first time ever. The petite wizard lightly grabbed his arm and looked up into his eyes with what she had hoped was an enticing smirk. “Wanna come back to mine?”

 

****

 

Gajeel knew he was stupid for following Team Natsu. It wasn’t like he had any claim to Levy whatsoever. As far as anyone was allowed to know, they were at most barely friends. He didn’t deserve anyone as beautiful as her, even if he hadn’t attacked her while with Phantom Lords, he still wouldn’t have been deserving of the beautiful light that she was. It was just that he couldn’t shake this feeling that he needed to get to her as soon as possible. The nagging feeling in the back of his mind had grown since the night before when they’d left until finally he just couldn’t take it anymore. It couldn’t hurt for him to swing by and make sure she was okay. She didn’t even need to know he was there, he just needed to make sure no one harmed her. That had been his vow when he’d joined Fairy Tail: That no one would ever harm her again, and he was going to everything he could to stick to it. 

 

After his internal struggle, and a short sparring session with Lily after he said some things that Gajeel dare not think of, he was off. It hadn’t been too terribly long of a trip, as it was just a short train ride away, but by the time he’d arrived in the late afternoon it seemed they’d already returned from their mission. Sniffing out the team, he could hear them up in their hotel room celebrating some sort of victory. There was, however, one person missing. His person. It figured as much. His dragon reared up for a second before the logical part of his brain told him she must be safe since the group sounded cheerful. He figured it was safe to assume they wouldn’t be so happy if his shrimp had met some untimely end. (They better not fucking be, anyway.) 

 

His nose picked up her scent easily, and followed it to a little hole in the wall establishment just a block away from the hotel. Even from outside he was hit with how sweet she smelled, like fuchsias almost. Mixed with her scent was woodsy whiskey, and he couldn’t deny that the mixture was positively intoxicating. If he didn’t think it would make him incredibly creepy, he could probably just stand outside the bar taking it in. It was the very faint trace of fear that made him enter the establishment. Most likely it was leftover from the mission earlier, and he was aware of that, but his body moved of his own accord and the next thing he knew he was standing in the doorway with all eyes on him. He watched as his bluenette girl twirled around on her stool and was dumbfounded by the way her cheeks were pinkened by the whiskey she’d been drinking and the way her eyes lit up. If he didn’t know better, he might think she was happy to see him. He wasn’t certain how long he stood there in the doorway holding her gaze, but he knew he wouldn’t last very long if this turned into a staring competition. His dragon was starting to stir deep within him and it would make keeping his distance very difficult if he wasn’t careful. Gajeel watched as Levy hopped off her stool, an air of confidence hanging around her that made her very dangerous, and walked towards him more like a jungle cat that the sprite he normally compared her to. She stopped just in front of him, and spoke lowly and in a sultry voice that he almost didn’t recognize.

 

“Hey there, Dragon Slayer.” His dragon roared to life at the sound. “Wanna come back to mine?”

 

****

 

Everything around Levy was on fire. Her skin, her insides, everything was hot as Gajeel pressed her up against the door of her hotel room. The walk back had been torturously long, and if she didn’t know better she thought she was going to spontaneously combustbefore they made it down the block. But now they were inside and he was everywhere and filling all of her senses. She hadn’t even closed the door behind them when she was flipped around and pressed up against it. Her arms made their way up and around his neck and her fingers twisted into his hair. His mouth was on hers and she moaned loudly as he sunk his teeth into her bottom lip. It felt like a dream she’d had. Actually, it felt exactly like a dream she’d had recently. Jevy’s hands came down to the dragon slayer’s shoulders and pushed him back, their mouths coming apart with a small pop. 

 

“Are you a dream?” She said, completely seriously and staring him dead in the eye. “Because it’s just mean if this is just a dream.” Gajeel’s laugh filled the room. 

 

“Nah, shrimp, I’m not a dream,” he said softly before his eyes turned downright evil. “But it’s nice to know you’ve dreamt of me in the past.”

 

“Shut up, stupid Gajeel, and kiss me,” she said without any true venom as she pulled his face back down to hers. This kiss was slower, and burned in a different way. As opposed to roaring flames like it began, this was more like molten lava. His tongue was hesitant this time, almost as if he was asking permission before Levy sucked it into her own mouth. He caressed her cheek with his right hand before using his left to press her closer to him. Lifting her up slightly, she wrapped her legs around his waist without breaking the kiss and he walked them towards the modest hotel bed. She felt him lower them both to it before moving from her mouth to start exploring her jaw and neck. A gasp escaped her mouth as he bit the space just below her jawline. He sucked on the space before continuing down. 

 

“Let me know if you want me to stop,” he breathed into her collarbone. 

 

“Stupid Gajeel,” she said again, running her fingers into his hair as his hand found the hem of her shirt and worked their way up to her breasts. The large warm palms engulfed her breasts, squeezing slightly before messaging her nipples. She felt his lips brush against the top of her jeans before he unbuttoned them with his teeth. The crimson eyes looked up at her, asking to move further. With a sigh, she put a hand on his shoulder, knowing full well that it would stop him in his tracks just long enough for her to get the upper hand. As suspected, he straightened and started to back off. With speed people didn’t think the script mage possessed, she grabbed him by that same shoulder and used her weight to flip them both. If he had been expecting it, he most likely wouldn’t have budged, but the surprise gave her enough of an edge that she was able to get him under her.

 

Straddling his hips, her hands made quick work of his belt as a smile played across his lips. “Let me know if you want me to stop,” she winked before dipping her hand under the band of his boxers and grabbing his cock into her hand. The sound he made was positively delicious as she started to stroke his length with her hand, making note that yes, he was pierced. Gajeel’s hips bucked slightly as she continued to palm him .

 

“Levy,” he whispered.  


“Mmhm,” she purred as she started to tug his pants down. Her brain was filled with the thought that this was finally happening.

 

“Levy,” he said again, a little louder and he gently put his hands on either sides of her arms. “Stop.” She froze. She hadn’t actually thought he’d tell her to stop. It was disappointing to say the least. He saw the hurt flicker across her eyes. “This, I want this,” he nodded towards her, “But I don’t want it like this.” 

 

“Gajeel,” she whispered. “What do you mean?” His eyes were on her as he looked to be choosing his words carefully.

 

“I want you, but I don’t deserve you. Not yet. But dammit, Lev, I’m going to make sure I do.” His voice was pleading as his hands still held to either side of her arms. His eyes searched hers, almost as if he was trying to find the answer to a question he hadn’t asked. “I guess what I’m saying is I want this, but I want to do it right. Okay?” 

 

This was the moment she was supposed to say something. It was okay, it was more than okay! What she should have done was said yes. Instead, this was the moment her whiskey came back to bite her, and she threw up on Gajeel’s chest. 

 

*****

 

It had been a long night. Gajeel didn’t think he’d ever be happy to be thrown up on, but in the moment Levy had thrown up on him it had saved him from getting an answer to a question he hadn’t even meant to ask. He was so stupid. After helping Levy get to the bathroom to retch some more, he got her cleaned up before tucking her into bed. She was asleep almost instantly and he breathed a low chuckle as she sighed his name. With any luck she would wake up with a terrible hangover and no memory whatsoever of what had happened. He set a tall glass of water on the nightstand next to her before pressing a kiss to her temple and seeing himself out.

 

*****

 

When Levy woke up, she felt like death warmed over. Death would have been kinder than how she felt at the current moment. She groaned lowly as she grabbed the glass of water on her nightstand and gulped it down. The meeting time to head home was fast approaching and she knew she had to get ready, but the thought of just letting herself lay in the bed until she rotted away sounded much more appealing. 

 

The only good that had come of the night was the dream she’d had of Gajeel. She smiled a small smile to herself thinking about how real his mouth had felt on her. If only, she thought to herself as she pushed herself up and off the bed. The world spun around her and she took a moment to collect herself. Breathing in deeply, she stumbled to the bathroom. She turned on the light and took in her disheveled appearance. Wow did she look rough. A small mark on her collarbone caught her eye as she saw a purplish bruise right on the bone on the right side of her chest. A vision of Gajeel biting her lightly flashed across her mind’s eye. She shook her head vigorously as if to shake the thought from her mind. As if, she thought to herself, must have been from the fall yesterday.

 

If only it had really been from him though.


	3. Day 2: Body Swap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiiiiii, have you ever seen the movie It's a Boy Girl Thing? 1) It's really good for being a random, low budget teen romcom and I def recommend checking it out on Netflix. 2) It's what inspired this. Also I wasn't too wildly happy with the last chapter because I felt like I copped out so I just want to apologize for that. Please also see note at end!

“Would you two shut up!” Natsu yelled, his flames escaping his control slightly as he snapped at Levy and Gajeel. The two had been arguing since they left the guild and honestly, he didn’t care that it was Gramps who had told him to take them along on this mission, he had had enough! The old man had had a strange twinkle in his eye when he’d asked him to bring them along, and it’s not that Natsu didn’t know what that look meant. That look meant nothing but trouble. He should know, he was the master of that look. But right about now when the Iron Dragon and Script Mage had been fighting incessantly for what seemed like hours, he was pretty sure he was going to burn the whole damn forest to the ground. 

 

“Butt out, Flame Breath!” Gajeel barked, turning his attention to him instead. 

 

“Yeah, Natsu, mind your own business!” Levy added just as angrily. What was that saying? Couples start to act like each other over time? If only they’d give in to the obvious tension between the two of them, maybe he wouldn’t have to listen to them with their big dumb mouths.

 

“I give up, you guys find your own way home!” Natsu yelled back, fire engulfing his hands as he threw them up and stormed away. They weren’t too far off from the guild hall anyway, if they couldn’t get home from here well that seemed like a personal problem. He’d done his part, they’d gone to the weird statue in the middle of the woods outside the hall, and found nothing out of the ordinary. Well, there had been that one moment where it seemed to have a surge of magic power, but given his comrades HAD STILL BEEN FIGHTING, he hadn’t paid it much mind. It was gone almost immediately anyway, so most likely nothing to worry about.

 

He hoped.

 

****

 

Levy was worried they may have overdone it with the show they had put on for Natsu when they’d joined him on his mission. Her and Gajeel had agreed to keep their relationship to themselves for awhile. It was honestly none of anybody’s business, but she couldn’t help but feel playing up their fighting would only make things more obvious.But she was going to go along with it, if only because it was kind of fun to go at the dragon slayer. There was a small part of her that wished she could just hold his freaking hand in public though. Being secretive did have it’s moments where it was kind of fun and dangerous, however. She giggled to herself as Gajeel unlocked the door to his house. 

 

“What’re you giggling about, shrimp?” He asked curiously as he pushed the door open and held it for he. 

 

“Oh, nothing you should worry your pretty little head over,” she smiled up at him sweetly as she brushed past. He rolled his eyes and growled lowly, no real threat behind the sound. He couldn’t actually be mad at his little blue fairy, not that the rest of the guild needed to know that. He was enjoying the bubble they’d been living in and not having to share what they had with anyone else. A loud yawn tore itself from Levy’s mouth. 

 

“I feel you, short stack,” he said in response, smothering his own yawn. “Let’s go to bed.”

 

****

 

The first thing Levy noticed when she started to stir awake, was that it was really freaking hot. Like, really hot. Was certain she was cooking from the inside out kind of hot. The second thing she noticed, was a really small arm slung across her waist. The third, and possibly most alarming, was what ever that uncomfortably hard thing was in her pants. 

 

“Gajeel?” She said sleepily wiggling closer to the body behind her. There was only a moment between his name leaving her mouth and her eyes snapping open. Now, Levy wasn’t much of a morning person. Far from it, it took 45 minutes to an hour on a normal day for her to make it out of bed and to the kitchen and another 30-45 minutes before her coffee kicked in and she was able to actually partake in human contact. She was aware that sometimes, her voice could be a bit husky and low in the morning when used before that time. But the voice that she’d heard just now was not her own at all. It was, without a doubt, Gajeel’s.

 

“Yeah, Lev?” She heard her own voice respond from behind her as the small arm tightened around her waist. Since she had no idea what the fuck was going on, she was going to ignore the fact that Gajeel didn’t even seem to think twice about the fact she was clearly speaking with a man’s voice right now. The bluenette started to count the seconds before the moment of realization dropped. One Mississippi, two Missi- “What the fuck?!” If he’d had his own voice, she was sure that would have come out as a roar. With her voice it sounded, well, harmless. Flipping over, Levy found herself staring into her own horrified hazel eyes. If she was looking at herself, and Gajeel seemed to be her, then it only stood to reason that... 

 

She shakily brought a hand up, terrified to confirm what she already knew was true. breathing in deeply, she looked at the large hands that were now her own, and the forearm that was studded with iron. She isn’t going to admit she screamed, because she wasn’t even sure Gajeel should have been able to make the noise she made anyway, but she definitely let out a manly yell. Then everything went black.

 

****

 

Levy-- or would it technically be him? Referring to his body as Levy was weird-- had come back to the land of the living about an hour later. Gajeel would be lying if he didn’t admit it had been a shock to wake up about two feet shorter, a hundred pounds lighter and with tits, but he had to stay strong for his girl. Or... whatever. He currently stood in the kitchen, arms crossed across his chest as he stared up at the cabinet with the sugar for the coffee he was trying to make. He hadn’t even thought about how high that dumbass sugar was until five minutes ago when he’d thrown the cabinet open and stretched up to grab it, seeing that his hand was still about 6 inches from the container. Stretching as far as he could and standing on tiptoes, he was still inches from the thing, but he would be damned if he asked for help. Nope. It wasn’t going to happen. Glaring up at the sugar, Gajeel inhaled deeply closed his eyes, and threw his arm up towards the sugar as he envisioned it turning to iron and lengthening into a claw. He stood there for a second with his arm outstretched before letting out a sigh of defeat. It had been worth a try. Slamming the cabinet door shut, he poured two cups of coffee and took them out to the living room. 

 

There was one thing he enjoyed about being Levy, aside from the boobs which were still fun to play with, and that was how light everything felt. It felt more like he was floating than walking, which was certainly a change from the usual heaviness of his own body. Turning the corner into the living room, he saw himself curled up in the corner of the couch, book open on his knees and Levy’s reading glasses propped on the edge of his nose. 

 

“Lev, if you let anyone see me like that, I will never forgive you,” he deadpanned in an attempt to sound menacing. A fruitless effort since he knew his blue haired girl could never sound terrifying. “Here’s your usual coffee. Black, just the way you like it.” He set the ‘Beware: I Bite’ mug on the coffee table in front of her before falling down onto the couch and sprawling out to take up as much room as he could. Gajeel sipped from his own mug and winced at the bitter taste of the coffee without the sugar. 

 

“Couldn’t reach the sugar, huh?” She said, not looking up from the book in front of her, ahint of a smile playing across her lips.

 

“Shut up,” he mumbled as he took another sip of the warm liquid. “Find anything about what the hell might be going on?” Levy finally looked up, leaned forward and grabbed the mug before returning his gaze. 

 

“First of all, talking to myself is really freaking me out,” she said and then took a sip. How she enjoyed coffee in all its plain coffee glory was beyond him. “Second, I can’t really seem to find anything in any of my books. We haven’t run into any wizards with the ability to using soul magic aside from Bickslow, and I doubt he’d switch our souls out for the hell of it,” her eyes suddenly narrowed at him. (He realized now why people found him scary, it wasn’t fun to be on the receiving end of his own glare.) “Unless you pissed him off recently, Gajeel.” 

 

“You know I’d admit to that, short stack,” he mumbled, avoiding eye contact. 

 

“There was something that was kind of interesting, but it doesn’t really go into too much detail,” Levy went on to say as she turned the book around. “Doesn’t this statue kind of look like the one from yesterday?” She pointed at a drawing that resembled that of the one they’d gone out to see with Natsu. 

 

“Sure does, Lev!” He smiled. “What is it?” He watched as she shrugged his shoulders, peering at him through those glasses that looked positively ridiculous on his face.

 

“All it says here is that it’s a statue of Tezcatlipoca, and he’s been known to be a god of discord.” She paused for a moment than shook her head. “You don’t think our arguing yesterday had anything to do with this, do you?” Sipping the disgusting liquid in his mug, he mulled over the thought.

 

“Ya got me, Shrimp, but it does seem like a good place to start.”

 

*****

 

Once she got used to being a man and speaking to herself, she thought she’d enjoy being so big. She could finally reach books on the top shelves, and could finally see what it was like to look down at people instead of look up. Turns out, she hated being so much bigger. All her limbs felt so much heavier, and she didn’t particular enjoy how she kept accidentally glaring at people. Gajeel apparently had resting bitch face, something she never noticed since he never seemed to have that look around her. (That, or she’d just gotten used to it. Actually, that was probably the real reasoning.) The plan had been to find Natsu and ask him what exactly he knew about the statue. The problem was, upon seeing them Natsu did as Natsu does and, well...

 

“Solid Script: Shield!” Levy yelled out of habit as Natsu leapt at her.

 

“Wanna brawl?!” He yelled as he came flying at her, fist raised for attack. 

 

“Salamander, get off her!” Gajeel roared, jumping into the fray disregarding the fact his fist would most likely do little to no damage in the state they were in. Almost as quickly as it began, the commotion stopped as the fire dragon slayer looked from Gajeel to Levy and back again. Staring at Levy’s body he cocked his head to the side.

 

“Levy, are you feeling okay? It’s not like you to call Gajeel a girl,” he said before turning his attentions to Gajeel’s body. “I mean unless there’s something I don’t know. You’d know better than me, I suspect.” Levy watched as Gajeel used her fist to punch Natsu in the face.

 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, punk,” she heard her voice say lowly. “Now we need to ask you some questions.”

 

“But first, could you get off me please, Natsu,” Levy said. It wasn’t that he was heavy or anything, especially in this form, but she didn’t exactly like being this close to Natsu. Gajeel’s sense of smell picked up the earthy, spicy scent that Natsu carried and a hint of something much sweeter. Almost like vanilla, and she wondered if that was Lucy. It may be the fact she said please, but he quickly pushed back, still with the perplexed look on his face before turning to Levy’s body. 

 

“Gajeel?” He asked before leaning forward and taking a quick sniff. “Wow it is you! How the fuck did you manage that!” He turned to Levy where she was on the ground and sniffed. “That sucks, Levy, talk about a major downgrade.” She sat up and shook her head.

 

“We aren’t quite sure how this happened, but we think it has something to do with that statue and were wondering if you could help us out with any information you might have about it,” she said hopefully. With any luck, he would have the answers. Her hopes were quickly dashed as he shrugged his shoulders. 

 

“Sorry, Levy, I don’t really know,” he said apologetically. “Gramps asked me to take you two out to take a look and see if there was anything weird out there but that was it. There had been a moment where I thought I had felt a surge of magic power from it while you guys were really going at it but it was gone almost as quickly as it came about. Dunno if that helps any.” 

 

Levy nodded before perking up. 

 

“But you said that the master told you to take us?” Her eyes lit up when he nodded. 

 

“If anyone knows anything about that statue, it’s gonna be Gramps,” he confirmed. Looking over at Gajeel, she nodded, knowing that they would both need to head to the guild hall right away. Before she could do anything else, she watched as Gajeel punched Natsu in the face.

 

“That’s for trying to ambush us, Salamander,” he yelled.

 

*****

 

Mirajane looked down at the stein she was drying as she shook her head. 

 

“I’m sorry guys, the master went out this morning and said he wouldn’t be back for a couple days,” she said sweetly. “Why, what’s wrong?” On the way to the guild hall, Levy and Gajeel had agreed to not tell anyone else about what had happened, more to avoid the inevitable questions and jokes that would come with it. They hadn’t, however, come up with a good lie for why they’d been looking for Makarov. 

 

“No reason, Mira!” Gajeel said, trying his best to sound as much like Levy as possible. He’d even worked on not scowling, which was a pretty tough thing for him to accomplish. Levy had lectured him about his rest bitch face and mentioned that she was going to be very upset if he gave her wrinkles from scowling like that while they were swapped. The takeover mage smiled at him. 

 

“If he gets home early though, I’ll let him know you wanted to speak with him! Until then, want to go ahead and have a bite to eat?” It was Levy’s turn to speak up, as Gajeel normally ordered for the both of them. After placing their order, they walked over to an empty table to try their best to avoid people. It was a lot harder to be someone else than one might expect. With a sigh, Levy went to lean against Gajeel before she groaned loudly. 

 

“No offense, Gajeel, but I really hate being you,” she said sadly. All she’d wanted to do was lean against her boyfriend and maybe even cry a little bit. He probably wouldn’t appreciate it though if she started crying in the middle of the guild hall while in his body. She was certain there would be a way to reverse whatever they’d gotten into. There almost always was, but in that moment she couldn’t help but think about what might happen if they couldn’t. Gajeel must have picked up on that fact as he snaked his arms around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. He could feel the eyes of the other members in the hall on them and he honestly couldn’t bring himself to give a damn. His girl was hurting so he had to be there for her. 

 

“We’ll figure something out, Lev,” he said, resting against her. He didn’t like being the one to do the leaning, not being the one leant on. She sighed deeply. 

 

“I know we will, Gajeel.” 

 

They sat in silence for a moment, both allowing their eyes to close and imagine that they were back in their own bodies. In that moment, a warmth overtook the both of them and a gold light enveloped the both of them. The sound of the guild hall fell away as it grew brighter. 

 

“What the-” Gajeel started to say before he was cut off and the light blinded them. Once it cleared, Levy rubbed her eyes before looking down at her hands and seeing them as her small dainty hands. And excited squeal escaped her lips as she turned to Gajeel and actually saw him next to her. 

 

“Gajeel!” She cried. “I’m me!” Before she could say anything else, he tapped her chin up with his finger and pressed a hungry kiss to her lips. 

 

“It’s so good to see you as you, Lev,” he smiled. Her stomach flipped as she heard someone wolf whistle from behind them “I don’t know what happened, or why, but I don’t think I’m going to take being able to see your beautiful face with my own eyes for granted again.” This time she initiated the kiss, smiling as cheers erupted in the hall. 

 

*****

 

Makarov chuckled to himself, proud of his trick as he watched the two lovebirds from his hiding place upstairs. Sure, he’d gambled a bit sending Natsu out with them, especially given Natsu and Gajeel’s penchant for fighting each other and very well could have ended up the victims of Tezcatlipoca instead. Not that that wouldn’t have been great fun either. But as he watched Gajeel throw him arm around Levy as she nuzzled her way into his chest right there in the guild hall, both looking the happiest he’d seen them, he knew his plan had worked splendidly. Everyone had known they’d been together for ages now, and it had honestly been silly that they’d been keeping up this act like no one knew. In the end it was only hurting them. He caught Mira’s eye from where he sat and winked at his co-conspirator. He turned his attention back to the couple, who had been joined by Natsu and Lucy. They all looked so happy and it almost brought a tear to the old man’s eye. Nothing made him happier than knowing his children were happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, upon quick reread before hitting "Publish" I realize that if you haven't seen the movie the whole what caused them to turn back thing might not be as clear. So basically in the movie the protags are on a school field trip at a museum and they're arguing in front of the statue of Tezcatlipoca and because he's the god of discord, he switches them until they like learn to be harmonious. Basically, the master knew if he sent them out with Natsu they'd be doing their arguing schtick and get switched and wouldn't be switched back until they were able to be like normal and happy and coupley instead of hiding. Basically. The issue is in order to fully develop all that I feel like this thing would have needed to be much longer than I'd like for a one shot length. Especially a one shot I wrote while working XD


	4. Day 3: Longing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELP THIS ONE TURNED INTO A FUCKING MONSTER. Alright, so I may have mentioned I used to write fics but went on hiatus? Anyway, I decided to take a fic idea I had been trying to work on and use it for the longing prompt. The problem is, the original idea was a five part fic complete with playlist, music quotes at the beginning and meaningful part titles. It was a thing. Which is how this entry for this prompt ended up being like 7k words. Oops. Please note that this kind of encompasses all kinds of different forms of longing. Longing for someone, longing for forgiveness, longing to move forward. It's a whole thing. Also, apparently Jet doesn't have a last name? At least, not that I'm aware of. So yes, I realize I used his nickname and real name as his full name. You kinda can't have a wedding invite without a full name. I also wanted to apologize if the kinda mid-ish/end seem rushed. Ya girl ain't got the focus to write 7k words in like 24ish hours and make them ALL good. 
> 
> ALSO SINCE THIS ONE WAS SUCH A BIG ONE I MAY WAIT A DAY TO POST ANOTHER CUZ THIS ONE WAS A HUGE WRITING WORKOUT.

“Lev?” Gajeel asked as he ran his fingers through the blue strands of her hair. She was leaning her back against his legs, elbow deep in her current book. He’d be surprised if she answered him, short of an enemy attack, nothing could get her nose out of a book once it was in far enough. He started to braid the cornflower colored hair in front of him.

 

“Mmm?” She hummed, pushing herself back into the touch without breaking her concentration on the book. He fought back a little smile at how engrossed Levy was in her book as he tempted her to break her concentration by tugging slightly on the section in his hand. His heart swelled at the soft keen it elicited. Gajeel had been trying to work up the courage to tell his best friend that he thought he loved her for some time now. Not just loved her, but was in love with her. In fact, he’d tried it many times before and each time the words had become lodged in his throat, choking him until he found a lame excuse to tell instead. And though he had been certain he’d worked up the courage now, he could feel his throat start to close up, effectively gagging him with his own confession. “Gajeel?” Levy pressed, still ignoring the hand in her hair.

 

“I-” can’t do this, he thought to himself. He didn’t want to ruin what they had, whatever it was exactly. It wasn’t exactly a relationship, but it was a lot of making out and casual sex and maybe that was just what people did. Maybe he wasn’t supposed to fall in love. Maybe he was just supposed to go with the flow. God, he just didn’t want to mess anything up. Coughing back the words, he continued lamely, “I think we should go get lunch soon.” He felt as the hazel eyed girl cocked her head slightly, probably confused by his obvious change in voice, but shrugged it off as she turned the page. Maybe he’d tell her eventually that the idea of not having Levy in his life was unbearable and that all Gajeel ever wanted to do when he woke up was see her face and all he wanted to do when he fell asleep was have her snuggled in his arms. Maybe one day he’d be able to do that, but until then, he could settle for their lazy reading days on their off days from missions and the odd psuedo-relationship they’d seemed to fall into. 

 

***

The dream fell away as sunlight poured through his window and onto his face, effectively shattering one of the most perfect memories he had of him and Levy. He let out a low groan as he was assaulted with the onslaught of guilt that he felt every morning upon fully waking. If only he’d worked up the nerve to tell Levy how he had really felt, none of this would have happened. They wouldn’t have grown apart, the team wouldn’t have cracked under the weight of the elephant that was always in the room and he wouldn’t find himself two years later regretting that moment every day since. Back then it had always seemed so easy. If you loved someone and they loved you, you loved each other and that was the end of it. But that hadn’t been how it was for them. Gajeel knew now that Levy loved him, but they just never were able to get the timing right, and he couldn’t help but blame himself for that.

 

As he finally brought himself to roll out of bed, he stumbled out to the dining room to see the mail from yesterday sitting on the dining room table. He couldn’t remember checking the mail when he got home, though to be honest, that wasn’t entirely shocking given the state he’d been in upon coming home. It was actually more shocking that he’d even checked the mail, most drunkards didn’t do that. His tongue was dry and his throat was scratchy as he tried to think back to the night before, shuddering it off when he remember just how much tequila he’d consumed. Some things were best left forgotten, which is exactly why he’d hit the alcohol so hard in the first place. Grabbing the pile as he walked by towards the kitchen to make a cup of coffee, he started shuffling through the stack. Bills, bills, bills- he stopped, staring down at the elegant envelope in his hand. It was ivory and thick and addressed from Levy McGarden and Jet Sarusuke. He felt the base of his throat start to tickle as his looked at the envelope, dread slowly filling his gut. He’d seen envelopes like this before, but he didn’t think he’d ever receive one from Levy. Not _his_ Levy. 

 

Slowly turning it over, he slipped his finger under the edge of the top, pulling it up and revealing a thick invitation that was plain aside from the elegant script that adorned it.

 

_Levy McGarden and Jet Sarusuke request the pleasure of your company at the celebration of their union._

 

The tickling in his throat turned into a burn as he felt effects of last night’s alcohol starting to take effect.

 

_Saturday, the Fifteenth of August Seven Hundred and Ninety-Five._

 

That was in two weeks. The burn became a throbbing pain as he threw the invite down on the counter and ran towards the bathroom, getting there just in time as his stomach rid itself of any and all its contents.

 

***

 

Gajeel sat at his dining room table an hour later with a cup of coffee, washed and dressed with the taste of vomit brushed ruthlessly out of his mouth. His crimson eyes glared at the offending card stock that had sent him over the edge. Well, not particularly over the edge. He hadn’t been anywhere near an edge for years. If anything, it’d pulled him up from the vast pool of despair he’d been drowning himself in since. Pulling the still steaming mug up to his lips, he took a drag, not even wincing as the hot liquid burned the top layer of his taste buds, enjoying the pain that resonated from somewhere other than his chest. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d spoken to the girl whom he still considered his best friend. In fact he was almost certain the last time they’d spoken was at Natsu and Lucy’s wedding last year. And even then they had just exchanged pleasantries that didn’t extend past compliments on the reception. Another burning sip pulled his mind back to the current wedding bells he could hear chiming in his head. Honestly, he shouldn’t be shocked. Levy and Jet had been together for years now, ever since… well, ever since Gajeel had broken both their hearts. Jet had been the one to put the woman back together and he was grateful for that, but he couldn’t help but think that it should be his name on that invitation. He often had to remind himself that Jet was a better fit for Levy than he was, though the lie tasted fowl in his mouth. So much so in fact that the only thing that could erase the feel of the lies on his tongue was the alcohol that helped him sleep. The memory of the dream flashed across his mind’s eye. Obviously it wasn’t working so well anymore.

 

As he continued to gaze at the invitation, letting the words imprint themselves in his memory, he let his mind wander back to when things seemed okay. All the sleepless nights, the shared smiles and the soft touches. All of the inside jokes, play fights and proud moments raced through his thoughts, tearing a small sob from his throat. Not only had he lost his soul mate, but he’d lost his best friend. It was like salt in the wound, really. Was it not good enough for fate to take away his heart, it had to take his soul too? Taking yet another long sip of his coffee, he reached out for the card. It was amazing how something so insignificant as words on a piece of thick paper could dredge up such feelings. Feelings that he’d worked quite hard to keep at bay. 

 

He had fucked up. He knew that. He should have told Levy all the things he’d ever wanted to say when he had the chance, but he hadn’t and now he would just have to deal with that. But how was he supposed to deal when he knew that she was always supposed to end up with him. It was never supposed to be the speed mage, but him. He was supposed to be the one that fell asleep with her in his arms and he was the one that was supposed to beg the blue haired woman to make breakfast and dammit, he was the one who was supposed to make her happy for ever and ever amen. He tossed the card across the table, almost as if it had shocked him, and slid further into his chair. He stared into his cup, feeling the waning steam tickle his face as it floated up, as he tried to pull the answers to all his problems from the dark colored liquid.

 

***

 

One week. There was one week until the wedding. One week until his life as he knew it ended. Gajeel’s hands formed tight fists, draining his knuckles of their tan as the thought settled in. He’d spent the past week trying to figure out how to right his wrongs, even if every idea seemed to end with Levy saying “It’s too little, too late.” He couldn’t blame her if she felt that way, but he just needed to know. It was with that mentality he found himself concocting a plan. A crazy plan that hinged on Levy remembering all the good times they had and having faith that they could have good times again, but a plan nonetheless. It’d come to him as he’d laid in bed for yet another sleepless night as his blood fizzled with alcohol. Staring up at the popcorned ceiling, he’d started tracing designs into it, much like the constellations. Following the hidden map of the images, it hit him. The one thing he and Levy had always wanted to do, and never gotten the chance to. It’d be perfect. 

 

***

 

So far, so good. He had been certain when he’d knocked on the door that his heart was going to give out and he was going to drop dead right there before the door was answered. It felt as if he’d been standing there for hours when he suddenly felt the urge to bolt, but before he could actually turn on his heel, he heard voices on the other side of the door mumbling lowly before it swung open and there she had been. Her cheeks were a bit rounder in the way cheeks often became with age, and her hair was longer, but it was her. His shrimp. Her mouth shaped a small “o” as she stared up at him, her face losing all color as if she’d just seen a ghost. He noticed she was just wearing an oversized sweater and from the smell of it, it was Jet’s. His stomach tightened at the sight, trying to remember to breathe in and out slowly. It wasn’t like it was weird for her to be wearing her fiance’s sweater, after all, especially since he was sure they’d just woken up and made breakfast. 

 

“Who is it?” He heard Jet call from inside the house after a few moments of silence. Still, she stood there staring at him. Gajeel shuffled nervously, hearing steps approaching them. “Levy?” The speed mage stopped abruptly after rounding the corner into the hallway that led to the front doorway and joined his fiancee in staring. So far no one had hit him with any kind of magic, so Gajeel was definitely going to chock that one up to a win in his column. Jet seemed to compose himself first, his eyes getting steely as his jaw squared. “Gajeel.” It was low, and they way he said it, it almost sounded like a curse. 

 

As for Levy, she herself to be having a hard time breathing. She was certain someone was sucking the air from the room because there was no other reason as to why no matter how deeply she breathed, it didn’t seem like she had enough air in her lungs. It couldn’t possibly be because Gajeel was now just an arm’s length away from her. He was close enough to touch. Close enough to-

 

No. He wasn’t allowed to just show back up like this, completely unannounced when Levy was happy. It had taken her so long to believe it, but she deserved to be happy, dammit. No matter how much it hurt sometimes.

 

“So what do we owe the pleasure?” Jet’s voice cut to the chase, not even pretending in the slightest that it really was a pleasure. It wasn’t that Jet hated the guy in the doorway, per se, it’s just that as he stood there all he could think about was the broken state he’d found Levy in all those years ago. He understood what had been their downfall, really, he did, but he could never forgive Gajeel for what he did to the woman that he cared for so deeply, even if he too was a victim of being in the right place at the wrong time. It had just taken so long for Levy to really smile again, and once he’d finally been able to prompt a smile from her, he’d vowed to never see her frown again. 

 

“Well, I-” Gajeel’s voice faltered as he eyed Levy, who refused to make eye contact with him again. It wasn’t like he shouldn’t have been prepared to face Jet. He couldn’t possibly expect the speed mage to welcome him with open arms, but standing there, feeling the obvious tension rolling off of him in waves, well, he almost wished he’d just left well enough alone. Especially as his eyes flitted over Levy again, whose eyes were now cast towards the ground. “I needed to talk to Levy, is all,” he finished, the sentence tapering off at the end as he shuffled awkwardly, scratching behind his head almost as if it were a nervous twitch.

 

“Now you want to talk?” Jet asked incredulously, letting Gajeel hear the disdain bleed into his voice. However, the reply that he’d expected from the dragon slayer actually came from the bluenette.

 

“Jet,” her voice sounded distant as she breathed his name while turning her hazel eyes towards him. His anger faltered as he saw the look in them.

 

“Yes, love?” He asked, vaguely noting her shoulders tense at the term of endearment. Levy nibbled on her lip, sneaking a glance over at the man who still stood at the door. How many times had she imagined the moment that Gajeel would show up at her door? And how many times had she imagined exactly what she would do? She was finally getting the chance to say her final piece and close that chapter in her life for good, and she was going to take it, even if it felt like her very lungs were being torn from her chest. 

 

“Just give us a moment, yeah?” She said slowly. There was a moment of hesitation as Jet’s eyes flicked from Levy to Gajeel and back, before nodding slowly. He didn’t trust Gajeel, especially not with the way his gaze was on Levy as if he were a man who’d been locked up and was seeing the sun for the first time in years, but he trusted her. Stepping forward, he pressed a gentle kiss to that blue hair he loved so much.

 

“I’ll be here,” he breathed before casting another warning glance in Gajeel’s direction. Locking eyes, Gajeel set his jaw, trying to fight down the bitter tasting jealousy that was rising in his throat. For a moment he was certain he was going to be sick in the middle of their foyer, but really, he had no one to blame but himself after all. Choking back the vile taste, he held the gaze. Finally,Jet walked away and Levy stayed turned away from the brunette in the doorway.

 

“Let me go throw on some pants and shoes and we’ll go for a walk,” she muttered, still not wanting to look him in the eye, knowing that the moment she did, she would shatter into a million little pieces. “Give me a moment?” She asked. 

 

“Take all the time you need,” Gajeel replied, voice timid. He’d wait as long as Levy needed him to. He owed her that much.

 

 

***

 

Levy came out a few minutes later, a pair of black jeans slung low on her hips and a pair of worn sneakers on her feet. As she’d searched her closet, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding twisting deep in her gut. Maybe she should have just let Jet handle it. She almost hoped Gajeel wouldn’t be there when she opened the door, after all, running away was what he did best. But there he was, still on the doorstep, cheeks pink with cold and eyes sparkling hopefully. God, he was still the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

 

“I was a little worried you’d leave me out here,” he chuckled humorlessly, hiding behind his sense of humor as he’d always done. But Levy could see behind it. She always had been able to.  

 

“I considered,” she replied, pulling the door shut behind her and kicking herself for saying it when she heard Gajeel bite back a pained sound. “Let’s take a walk?” Walking was what they did. Often times, when they were still in the guild, the two of them would disappear to explore the area they were in for a job. It wasn’t exactly the smartest thing they’d done as it usually ended with them being yelled at by Lily for the umpteenth time for disappearing to God knows where to do God knows what. But to be honest, they just enjoyed being able to walk side by side down the street, seeing new places and just soaking in each other’s presence. It was a calming thing more than anything, and Levy had missed it. Missed him. Missed them. There had been plenty of times over the years that she really could have done with a walk around town in silence just enjoying the fact that they didn’t need to speak to share what they were thinking. Those moments became more sparse as the years passed, but she still had them nonetheless.

 

As they started to walk down the sidewalk, side by side with arms occasionally brushing and sending a sharp shock of electricity down her arm, hse could almost pretend that nothing had changed. That they were still Levy McGarden and Gajeel Redfox of Fairy Tail and that they still talked every day about anything and everything and sometimes nothing at all.  She could almost pretend that Gajeel hadn’t broken her heart and left her alone to stick the pieces back together again. It had taken a long time and sometimes she even thought that there were still a few pieces missing, but that was only sometimes, and no one really needed to know about that. They walked in silence, the only sound was coming from their shoes on the pavement as their breaths came out in small puffs of opaque steam, dancing in the air and enjoying the few moments of life they had before evaporating into nothingness. She almost envied those wisps of air, dragging a finger through one of the tiny clouds before it disappeared forever. 

 

Gajeel waited for Levy to speak, watching as she toyed idly with clouds her breath made. After all this time, he was still enchanted by her. He’d been stupid to think that maybe one day he wouldn’t be. There were a million things he knew he needed to say, if there was anything he knew, it was when Levy needed silence the most, and this was one of those moments. He could wait, he’d waited this long anyway, and besides all he really needed was this vision of his pink cheeked girl playing with the small puffs of steam before her. Seeing her this way almost allowed Gajeel to believe that maybe he hadn’t hurt her as much as he’d heard he had. But as he watched on, he saw the corner of her mouth turn down, almost as if she were having an internal debate with herself. Averting his eyes back towards the ground, Gajeel allowed himself to be led further down the street by the blue haired girl, still having complete trust that she wouldn’t lead him astray, even if he’d let her down. The minutes passed and the air around them started to grow thick.

 

“Why?” Her tinkling voice finally broke through the tension that had been building between the two. Startled, he looked up, eyes wide as he cocked his head questioningly. He had been prepared to hear a lot of things, but not that one word, the single most terrifying word when used by itself. Why. Hell, most of the time he didn’t even know why.

 

“Why what?” Gajeel whispered, feeling his legs continue to trudge down the sidewalk.

 

“Why are you here?” Levy asked, eyes trained on her feet. One step at a time, she thought to herself. The aching hole in her chest that had reared its ugly head back at her home had started to grow as she concentrated on each step, and as it grew, so did her anger. How dare he make her feel like this again.

 

Gajeel, in his own right, grew more worried, floundering as he searched for the answer for the one question he hadn’t anticipated. Of course he knew why he was there, he just hadn’t thought he’d have to answer why so quickly. This wasn’t how it was supposed to have happened. Maybe he wasn’t exactly sure how it was supposed to have happened, but this wasn’t it.

 

“I-”

 

“It’s been years, Gajeel. Years. And now you want to talk?” She cut him off. “Why? You can’t possibly care now.” The words started to slip from her lips as the anger started to boil in her veins. Gajeel’s eyes grew wide as those five words cut deep into his skin. “You left me,. You left me when I needed you most and you didn’t even say goodbye. I woke up and you were gone. And it wasn’t just about me, Gajeel. You had the others to think about too, but you didn’t, did you?” Hot tears pricked the corners of her eyes as she continued on her tirade, finally coming to a stop at the edge of a deserted playground, but keeping her gaze on anything that wasn’t him. “You didn’t just let me down, you let the guild down and you never even told anyone why. You could have told me you didn’t love me anymore, you know. I would have handled it. But you didn’t. So why, Gajeel. Why now?” Her angry hazel gaze finally landed on his face, ignoring the fact that tears threatened to spill over at any moment. She knew he had seen her at her worst anyway, so why try to hide that now?

 

Gajeel’s breath hitched as every word felt like another cut deep in his skin, cutting to the bone and leaving him bleeding. He had been wrong, and he had been selfish, but he had never done any of it to intentionally hurt anyone, least of all Levy. Biting on his lip, he wished he’d just stayed home and cradled the bottle of Jack that he knew was waiting for him.  

 

“I didn’t… Levy… I…” he stumbled on his words, unsure of what he could say. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

 

“No, you don’t understand. I’m happy now,” she said forcefully, putting her whole body behind her words. This was it. She was going to end this part of her life. The pain in her chest grew almost unbearable as she opened her mouth to keep speaking. I loved you, and I probably always will, but we just never got the timing right, and will never get it right. She’d practiced it in her head, she just had to say it.

 

Gajeel felt his stomach clench as Levy’s eyes deadened, looking set on saying whatever it was she was about to say and he knew that if he didn’t say what he needed to now, he never would be able to. This was it. 

 

“Run away with me,” he blurted. Well, there it was. 

 

She deflated almost instantly. Run away? With Gajeel? Though her heart had stopped momentarily, it kicked back up in hyper drive. She couldn’t do that. No, she couldn’t.

 

“Not run away, but, let’s go on a trip,” He remedied, seeing the panic in her eyes. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. “Remember, we had always planned on going on a trip. Just the two of us to that beach your parents had taken you to when you were a kid. I always promised you I would, and I know now is an awful time, but Lev,” he didn’t miss the shudder the nickname invoked, “I owe you this. I promise you, no funny business. Just, let me give you this much. Before you get married and don’t have the time anymore. Just two friends, catching up and fulfilling a promise.” He watched Levy closely, gaining momentum as he saw her considering. At least, he thought she was considering. “And if you never want to see me again after that,” his heart ached painfully, “than I’ll never come back around. But please, don’t let me break this promise.”

 

There was another heavy silence as Levy took in everything Gajeel had just said. She knew the answer, there really shouldn’t be any hesitation at all. She knew what she should do. She knew she should just march back up to her house, close the door on Gajeel Refox for good and cuddle up with Jet on their couch as they read, just like they did every Saturday. She knew exactly what she should do. 

 

As Gajeel waited for the answer, the world around him shuddering to a stop, he felt as if the silence were suffocating him. All he needed was an answer. 

 

Einstein said that time moves at different speeds, that it was relative. He believed that time was an illusion. Sometimes, hours could feel like minutes, and sometimes seconds could feel like they were a lifetime. As he stood there, Gajeel was certain that time had stopped altogether until Levy’s gaze flickered back up to hold his and her mouth finally opened to give him an answer.

 

“Okay. I’ll go.”

 

****

 

They were sitting across from each other in comfortable silence on the train. He honestly hadn't expected Jet to be as okay with the trip as he had been. At least, Levy made it seem that way. When he'd taken her back to her home, she'd asked when she should meet him at the train station and that was the last thing she'd said to him before showing up the next morning to meet him. She was wearing a yellow halter dress and had a white scarf tied around her head to keep her waist length blue locks from getting in her face. She took his breath away almost as if it were the first time all over again. Gajeel had tried to make small talk as they were boarding, but it died out as the train had started rolling. 

 

"Do you not get motion sick anymore?" Levy asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. He chuckled lowly. Of all the things to wonder.

 

"I do, I've just learned ways to manage it," he replied lightly. "I can make it through a train ride without throwing up all over everyone now, but you definitely won't catch me eating anything until we're back on land." She clicked her tongue and shook her head before giving him a devilish smile.

 

"That's a shame, I was kind of looking forward to your pain and suffering," she said without any malice. It felt more like an invitation and he gladly accepted it. Grabbing his heart, he dramatically threw his head black.

 

"Straight through the heart, Shrimp," he laughed. "I mean, if you really want me to I can hurl but it will definitely be more unpleasant for you and most likely your shoes than it will be for me." Her laugh was like the sound of tinkling bells, and he tried to commit it to memory. At some point along the way, he'd forgotten that sound and he didn't want to forget it again.

  


"Stupid Gajeel," she said, her cheeks growing red as she let the words slip. She'd always said it in an endearing way and it had been too easy to just let it out. Their laughter died out and was replaced with an awkward tension. Crap, that wasn't what he had wanted. He definitely should say something. Literally anything to get her talking again.

 

"So Jet was pretty cool about this, huh?" Well, maybe not literally anything. Mentally facepalming, Gajeel had no other choice than to ride this topic out now. The bluenette took a moment to choose her words.

 

"I wouldn't say he was cool more than I didn't really give him a choice," she said with a shrug as she stared out the window. "He doesn't trust you at all, but he trusts me, so there was really no reason for him to say I couldn't. I mean, if he'd really been against it, I wouldn't have but-" she cut herself off to steal a glance at him. "He just didn't really have a reason to say no." It was a lame ending, and he could tell there was more that she'd left unsaid but he wasn't going to push it. He was just happy she'd agreed to come along and hadn't just hit him with some of her script magic.

 

“Well I’m glad that whatever the reason, you’re here,” he replied earnestly. They slipped back into silence, Levy training her eyes on the countryside outside the window again. This time it was more comfortable as she propped her feet up on the seat across from her and next to Gajeel. He let his eyes memorize the curve of her cheekbones as the sun glinted of them.

 

“Gajeel?” She asked, not taking her eyes off the scenery. He grunted in reply, prompting her to continue. “Do you remember why we’d even decided to go to Greenity Beach?” It wasn’t a question he’d expected at all, but was one he instantly knew the answer to. Of course he remembered. It had been the first time he’d invited Levy to his home. It had originally supposed to have been a short visit so he can lend her some books on dragon slayers, and had turned into her staying the night. They’d gotten to talk about nothing and everything all at once and soon turned to the topic of family. He had noticed she seemed to keep the topic trained on Metalicana and curiosity finally got the better of him, so he’d asked her about her parents. He had almost regretted it the second he’d asked because her eyes had instantly turned sad. She didn’t remember too much about them, she’d said. They’d died when she was very young while on an S-class mission. From stories she’d been told and pictures she’d been shown, she had her father’s looks and her mother’s brains, but as for the people themselves, she didn’t quite recall much. She did, however, remember a trip they’d taken to a beach with the most brilliantly clear water, and greenery. That beach, was Greenity beach, and her parents had been laid to rest there. It was a very small beach that not many people knew about, and while she had been there when Makarov had set their ashes free into the ocean, she’d admitted that night that she’d never managed to find the courage to go back, terrified of what feelings may be unleashed if she did. He remembered the way her eyes had shone when she’d told him, and he had remembered it so vividly because that was the moment he knew he loved her. He had reached out to touch her cheek softly, urging her to look up at him as the tears had spilled over. “Don’t worry, Shrimp,” he’d whispered. “I’ll be your courage.”

 

The nod she received from the dragon slayer was all she needed. 

 

“Will you still be my courage?”A lump rose in his throat. He would always be whatever she needed him to be, but he supposed after what he’d done to her, he couldn’t be blame her for not trusting that he would.

 

“Of course, Lev,” he said, resting a hand lightly on her ankle next to him. She just nodded in response before falling back into a silence that lasted until they reached their destination.

 

****

  
When they had arrived, there wasn’t much time to do much else besides check into the hotel-- both in separate rooms, of course-- and head to dinner. Gajeel had insisted they catch up, and after they both had had a couple of glasses of wine, things had almost felt normal again. Levy had forgotten how easy it was to fall back into their rhythm. They’d always been great at playing off of each other and their banter had always been such a great time. At one point they had even had the waiter in stitches as they poked fun at each other. A small voice in the back of her mind warned her to keep her guard up, and it was that voice that helped her pick up on the fact that Gajeel seemed to steer all conversation away from what he’d been up to since he’d disappeared those few years back. She had let sleeping dogs lie though, just enjoying that whatever it was that they were doing, it had made her feel completely herself again. Not that she didn’t love her life now, it’s just that with Gajeel it was like it had been before.

 

That had been last night though, and they’d both woken with a pit of dread in their stomachs. Today, they were supposed to actually go out to the water, and while Levy should have really thought of it as her parents’ grave, it was hard to knowing that’s where they’d chosen as their final resting place. Gajeel was worried he’d made a terrible mistake bringing Levy here. At the time it had seemed like the perfect gift to give her, but now, he wasn’t too sure. He knocked on her hotel door, hating that he was again found on the opposite side of a door from her, uncertain of what he’d be met with when it opened. The door swung open almost immediately to reveal Levy on the other side, looking smaller than usual as she stood there in a lilac top and white shorts. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail and worry exuded from her every pore. He wanted nothing more than to wrap her in his arms, but he knew that that wouldn’t help anything. For now, he had to be her strength.

 

“You ready?” He asked, hoping she knew that she could take all the time she needed to decide. 

 

“Yeah,” she said after a moment’s hesitation. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

 

****

  
They stood there next to each other, both looking out into the ocean as the waves lapped against their ankles. He wasn’t sure how long they’d stood there, and the longr they did, the more he began to worry he’d fucked up and made things worse. Even with about a foot of space between them, he could feel the tension rolling off of her. He knew he needed to do something to help her. He needed to reassure her that everything was okay. He needed to be her courage. He knew exactly what he needed to do. Gajeel reached his hand across the space, and grabbed her hand. She didn’t return the squeeze her gave her hand, but she didn’t pull her hand away either. He cleared his throat.

 

“Hey there, Mr. and Mrs. McGarden,” he said out into the nothingness ahead of them. Gajeel wasn’t much for religion and the ideas of afterlives, but having spoken with spirits in the past he knew that sometimes there was still someone listening. “You don’t know me, but I just wanted to say your girl here is amazing.” He felt her small fingers twitch around his. “I’m not really one to believe in too much spirit mumbo jumbo, but if you’re around, it’d be great if you could show us some sort of sign.” Suddenly, there was a gust of wind as a larger wave came towards them, crashing higher against their legs before everything died down. A sob burst from the bluenette next to him. “Thanks,” he said out towards the ocean. “It probably doesn’t make any sense as to why I’m here, but I mad a promise to Lev here to be her courage so she could come talk to you. I made a right dick of myself, and I almost broke that promise, but we’re here now. I don’t really have the right to tell you why, but this was the best gift I could give for this occasion, alright Mr. and Mrs. McGarden?” He felt silly for talking to the nothingness, but the stillness of the air around him weighed on him and he pressed on. “So I’m going to give you guys some space, but before I do I just wanted to say that you guys don’t have to worry about Levy at all.” He turned to face the bluenette, who still managed to look beautiful even with tears running down her face. “She’s grown into the most incredible woman.”

 

He’d been sitting on the beach behind Levy for about half an hour now and while he could have listened to what she was saying out to her parents, he chose to focus his hearing on the wooded area surrounding the beach. He must have lost track of time because he nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand lightly touch his shoulder.

 

“Gajeel?” Levy said, a small look of concern on her face. 

 

“Yeah, Short Stack, I’m sorry. Just spaced out for a minute is all,” he said. “Everything good?” He knew once he’d taken in the brightness of her eyes and the smile that broke across her face that he’d made the right choice in making good on his promise. No girl should get married without letting her parents know. She nodded, her smile widening. 

 

“I really can’t thank you enough, Gajeel,” she said as she offered him a hand to help him up. “Do you want to go get dinner now?” From the look of the sun, they’d been out much longer than he’d originally thought, and he felt the heavy pit in his stomach again.

 

“Actually, Lev, I was wondering if you’d watch the sunset with me.” It sounded so lame when he said it, but there was still one last thing he needed to do this trip. She didn’t seem to pick up on any weirdness as she continued to smile up at him.

 

“I would love to.”

 

****  


The color of the sky was indescribable. It didn't seem possible for one sky to be so many different hues at once to create an entirely different color altogether. Levy sat next to him on the bench at the ocean overlook with her head on his shoulder. The walk up to the bench had been a pleasant one as she buzzed with energy from finally visiting her parents’ final resting place and speaking to them. Now that they had made it and sat for a bit of time watching the colors of the sky change as the sun sank lower and lower into the horizon, she seemed to be deflating. He couldn’t blame her, he knew the feeling. They were headed home in the morning and he still needed to say what he’d come out here to say and he knew if he was going to, it was now or it was never. _Speak now or forever hold your peace_ , he scoffed to himself.

 

"Lev?" He said, aware his voice was more gruff than usual.  


"Mmm?" She hummed, her head still slotted perfectly in the space between his neck and shoulder. He couldn't help but feel a slight hint of deja vu in the exchange. It was now, or it was never.

 

"I love you, you know," he said in a rush, feeling her tense up before continuing. "I suspect I always will. And I say that without any hope of reciprocation." She loosened, but stayed silent feeling he had more still to say. "I love you in the best way anyone can love another person. Unconditionally. I want nothing for you but happiness. I never said it when I had the chance, and you deserve someone who does. You got someone who did. Don't get me wrong, I did consider coming here with the sole intent of begging for your forgiveness and to pick me. But truth be told, Lev, if I didn't think I deserved you then I sure as hell don't deserve you now." He stopped to swallow the lump in his throat, doing his best to ignore the damp spot starting to form on the shoulder of his shirt. "But while I was thinking about the different ways to try and get you back, I realized I was becoming me again. Somehow, you had saved me again. As unintentionally as I'm sure it was, your wedding invitation brought me back from the dead. And that's when I realized I needed to find a way to thank you, and that's when it had hit me." His own tears were flowing now, but he'd be damned if he disturbed her position to wipe them away. "The best gift I could give you, Lev, is to let you go. When I had walked away, from you, the guild, everything, I was as selfish as any one person could be because I took your closure with me. I love you, Levy," he said again, "but you are free of any obligations towards me. You owe me nothing. Just please, love with your whole heart, and be happy." 

 

As he ended his speech, a blanket of silence settled over the bench. The sun was almost completely set now. All but a sliver of light peaking over the horizon was left, and he couldn't help but feel as if there was some kind of symbolism to be found there. They continued to sit in silence when he felt her small hand find his as she intertwined their fingers. She squeezed lightly.

 

"Stupid Gajeel," Levy's voice was thick with tears. She still hadn't moved her head from his shoulder. Time didn't seem to exist as they sat there overlooking the now inky black ocean as stars dotted the sky. In a perfect world, they could have frozen that moment. This wasn't a perfect world, though, and they both settled for committing the moment to memory. It felt like hours later when Levy broke the silence again. Her voice was so low that if he wasn't a dragon slayer, he most likely would have missed it altogether. They were low, but they were two words that filled his lungs with air for what felt like the first time in years.

  
"Thank you."

****

 

The trip home seemed so much shorter than the trip out to the beach. It was almost as if he’d blinked and now they were there. They stood outside her house, both aware that once she let go of his hand and headed into the home, that would be the last time they saw each other. At least for now. He’d meant what he had said at the ocean, and he wanted nothing but her happiness. It would take some time for his heart to catch up with his mind’s decision, but he’d get there and if she’d have him, he’d be there for her. She turned to him, a bittersweet light in her hazel eyes as she hugged him close to her.

 

“Thank you, Gajeel, for everything,” she breathed into his ear before pushing away. She’d emphasized everything in hopes he’d know she meant everything. Even with all the hurt he had caused her, she wouldn’t have traded anything for his chapter in the story of her life. A single tear spilled over and rolled down her cheek as she turned to walk up the walkway to the front door. He watched as she grabbed the knob and turned back one final time, giving him that special smile he knew was only for him before she pushed the door open and disappeared inside. 

 

“Be free,” he whispered before throwing his hands into his pockets, and finally walking forward.


	5. Day 4: Matching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, allow me to apologize for the Longing prompt chapter. Some people weren’t too huge of fans of me considering it Gajevy given they didn’t actually end up together so I apologize. This is all a learning experience for me, and it is duly noted that this fandom is not a big fan of that sorta thing. Please allow me to make up for it with this Matching prompt. (Loosely matching? Isn’t really matching until the end lol it probably shouldn't even be considered matching BUT THEY EVENTUALLY GET THERE SO IMMA LET IT COUNT) HERE IS YOUR SMUT WARNING. IF Y’ALL DON’T WANNA GET SMUTTY, TURN BACK NOW. (Also, LOL did I feel like the teacher in 10 Things I Hate About You when I was trying to figure out different words for penis that wouldn’t sound weird.)
> 
> PS- Please look up New Girl Starfish Outfit if you need a reference for wtf that is.

The game they were playing was simple, and a true test of resilience. And if there was anyone who knew how to resist temptation, it was Gajeel. Hell, he’d managed to resist Levy for like a year once upon a time, so what was a week. When they’d first started playing the game, the stakes had started out pretty small. First person to cave in to the other by the end of the day had to do the dishes that night and a draw resulted in them sharing the loss. That sort of thing. But recently they’d been upping the ante and this week’s game took the cake. He shuddered as he thought about Levy’s terms and what it would possibly mean for him if he lost. The odds weren’t exactly in her favor, as he’d won the past five games, but if he knew anything it was that his blue haired girl could fight pretty dirty when she was backed into a corner. The fact he hadn’t heard from her at all on the final day of the challenge had left him with an unsettling and ominous feeling in the pit of his gut. He had faced dragons, for fucks sake, and yet they had never made his blood run cold like the thought of what the script mage could possibly be planning did.

 

****

 

Levy’s eyes were the largest Cana had ever seen them and she saw the horror that laid deep beneath the hazel orbs as she stared at the clothing item Cana was holding up. Maybe she was being downright mean by going straight for this item in the store knowing that she’d have had to ease Baby Blue into a place like this but, well, Cana always had been a bit wicked. She smiled in a way that made Levy wonder if this was what a seal felt like when they saw a shark before it attacked and ate them. 

 

“This, my dear sweet Levy, is what we call the Starfish,” she cooed. “Only for the truly adventurous, the Starfish is for the level 100 sex fiends that know what they want and exactly how to get it.” Honestly, if she wasn’t such a good wizard, she’d try her hand at lingerie saleswoman. The bluenette stared at the strings that made up whatever “the Starfish” was supposed to be. To call it underwear would be a disgrace to underwear everywhere. 

 

“So...” Levy cocked her head wondering if a different angle would help her brain piece together what to make of the strings. “Does it go over your lingerie?” Cana’s loud laugh filled the boutique and the saleswoman shot them a nasty look before turning back to the woman she was helping to check out.

 

“Sweet, sweet, naive Levy, this is the lingerie,” she said, wiggling the strings that seemed to only be held together by the some iron hoops and a black leather star that looked like it would land directly on her stomach. What good was the most covering part of the thing if it was for your stomach, she wondered before delicately taking the strings from Cana’s grasp. It was very much outside of her comfort zone, but they were down to the wire and she couldn’t suffer another loss, especially after he said that his prize would be her doing her stripper routine again. She could never, not ever, allow him to get her to do the stripper routine again. Not after the last time when she’d manage to trip over her own clothes that she’d stripped and broken her nose landing face first onto their coffee table. Thank god for Wendy and her healing magic. The pure unadulterated shame of having to explain to a child how she’d managed to break her nose was just too much, and she’d be damned if she put herself into the position to have to do that again. Turning it as if more material might appear the more she examined it, she finally locked eyes with her friend.

 

“This is guaranteed to get me the win?” Cana had to bite back a laugh as she saw Levy’s eyes burning with determination. You’d think she was headed into battle with how seriously she took this game between her and her dragon slayer. 

 

“Sweetcheeks, this will guarantee you every win.”

 

****

 

The plan was set in motion, and now all she had to do was wait. She knew she’d be cutting it close given they’d set the end of the day to mean when the sun set on the final day. Luckily it was summer and the days had grown long again, but by her estimation she had about three hours to clinch victory before she had to bust out her stripper heels. She stood in front of the mirrored wall in the bathroom, taking in the sight of herself. After a much longer amount of time than she cared to admit, she had finally gotten herself into the strappy item and she had to say, she did look pretty hot. The strings criss-crossed all up and down her body, leaving nothing to the imagination as straps managed to run just down the center of both her nipples and the star she’d guessed would be on her stomach landed just above her crotch. The “outfit,” for lack of a better term, came to an end with two strings in the front and back which both had clasps that Cana had informed her were to connect to thigh highs. Her’s now connected to black socks with lace at the top. To complete the look, she’d let the card mage do her makeup in a smokey cat eye and a devil red lipstick. Her hair was pinned up in messy disarray and she did have to say, she’d totally do herself. 

 

Next was to set the trap, and if Cana was right, catch herself a dragon slayer.

 

****

 

Gajeel should have known something was wrong from the second he stepped foot into their home and smelled the meal that it sounded like Levy was preparing in the kitchen. If he was smart, he would have turned tail and run right then and there. Levy never cooked. In fact, that was solely his job ever since the Great Toast Fiasco of Last Fall. They’d actually just given up on cleaning the charred mark on the wall off and just decided to tile that wall and call it a day. 

 

“Lev?” He called, wondering if maybe there was an intruder in their home that had decided to break in and make them dinner. He rounded the corner into the kitchen and found her plating two steaks which both looked and smelled delicious. (He was also happy to see the takeout bags that sat on the counter next to the plates. His kitchen would live to see another day.) “What do I owe the pleasure of ste-” the words stopped completely in his throat when he actually looked at the script mage. Strings. If he had to describe what his little fairy was wearing, he’d only be able to describe it as strings. She wasn’t so much his fairy right now as his own personal devil as she turned to him, her eyes crinkling as she smiled that saccharine smile that could only mean she was here to lay out her final hand. His mouth was practically watering as she sauntered up to him, reached up on her toes and pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek. A shudder ran down his spine as he felt her breasts brush against his chest through the fabric of his shirt

 

“Welcome home, babe,” she said completely ignoring the fact she was practically naked in their kitchen. “Are you hungry?” The double entendre in her words was just plain evil. 

 

“What are you wearing?” He asked as flatly as he could while trying to think of literally anything that would get his mind back into the game so he could win. (Dead puppies, when he stubbed his toe this morning on the coffee table, Salamander, literally anything.) Maybe if he bluffed well enough, he could still make it out alive, even if he had the losing hand. Levy continued her offensive strike. She hopped up onto the counter top, spreading her legs as she leaned back slightly to give him a full view.

 

“You mean this silly thing?” She smiled sweetly. “It was just something I had lying around. Do you like it?” He couldn’t control his eyes as they dragged up and down her body, taking in her raised nipples straining against the strings running over them and the goosebumps that his gaze caused. His dragon roared to life within him, trying to take control and take his woman. _Pull it together man_ , he thought to himself as he put every ounce of willpower into not moving. He felt the involuntary growl in the base of his throat and Levy smirked as she dropped her head back to expose her neck and trailed her hand down it, dealing the killing blow. 

 

Gajeel closed the space between them in one step and placed both of his hands on her hips. She sighed at the warm touch and locked eyes with him. Hazel and crimson met and the space between them heated up. She reached her hand up and behind his neck, tangling in the hair at the base of his neck and pulling him down towards her. It felt like a fire ignited deep within his bones when their mouths came together in a hard and heavy kiss filled nothing but teeth and tongues. Levy fought for dominance as she sucked his bottom lip into her mouth and bit down, pulling on it before pulling back and letting it go. The light in her eyes was dancing when she saw the hunger in his own.

 

“Are you giving in?” She asked lowly, massaging the area with her fingers that were still entangled in his hair. Punishment be damned, it would be worth it, he thought as he put both hands under her legs and pulled her body towards his so they were pressed together. Levy wrapped her legs around his waist as his mouth came back down to hers with his answer. His warm palms slid up her thighs, along her sides and up to her breasts, massaging them lightly and causing her to moan into his mouth. Pulling away from her mouth, he leant further down to explore her neck, nipping at the flesh and then sucking the area lightly before moving further down. He could smell the arousal on her skin and it filled the room with a the most beautifully floral scent. Her small hands found their way to the hem of his shirt, pushing it up until he was forced to pull back long enough for her to pull the fabric over his head. The script mage took the opportunity to takeover, leaning forward to place a kiss on his collar bone, before biting down and then continuing the pattern across the bone as her hands made quick work of the fastening on his pants. Pushing them down as far as she could, she licked the length of her hand before she caressed his cock that was now free in front of her. Gajeel’s head fell back as she picked up her rhythm. The best part about their game was that there weren’t really ever any losers, which was what actually made playing it that much harder. As she continued to stroke his member, his own hand found his way between her thighs and started to massage her clit. He felt her hand slightly clench as the touch sent her nerve endings into a frenzy. The kitchen was soon filled with their moans, his a deep bass and hers a high keen. Growling, he wrapped both hands around her waist and pulled her even closer. The sudden move caused a startled squeak to escape her as he pressed his mouth to hers and pressed himself into her. 

 

Gajeel swallowed her moan, loving the sound she made. He loved everything about her, but her moans were one of his favorite things. As he settled into a slow pace to start, he felt her hips buck forward, causing him to laugh into their kiss. He pulled his mouth from hers and kissed his way up her chin and to her earlobe, which he then took into his teeth before tugging slightly, winning another moan as her head fell back in pleasure.

 

“You won this round, Shrimp,” he breathed, not once missing a beat in his torturously slow motion. “But I’m not gonna make it an easy win.” He could feel her nails digging into his back as she tried to pull him in further, closing what little space was between them already. His hands returned to her breasts, tweaking her nipples that pressed against the minimal fabric of the lingerie. Levy’s breath was heavy as she breathed into his neck, nipping at the skin, nails still gripping into his muscles. If he hadn’t been so distracted by his own devious deeds, he would have noticed as she traced out a single word on his back.

 

“S-solid Script: Switch,” she stuttered, and suddenly Gajeel found himself being pushed back onto the counter she’d just been sitting on with Levy straddling him. She placed her hands over his, keeping them pressed to her breasts as she started to grind against him, smiling down at him victoriously. “The full win is mine, Redfox.” She winked before throwing her head back in ecstasy, grinding her hips into him quicker. His breath started to get as ragged as hers as she continued her rhythm, enjoying the deep moans below her. He knew he wasn’t going to make it much longer, but from the way she was groaning and how she was tightening around him, neither was she. 

 

Without missing a moment, she pushed herself forward to find his mouth in a sloppy kiss fueled by nothing but lust. Their tongues tangled as they panted into each other, both feeling their climaxes within their grasps. He knew the moment she reached hers when he felt a shudder run through her entire body, her walls tightening around his cock as she breathed a sigh of release against his lips. Gajeel’s arms wrapped around her and held her close as he followed suit, feeling the warmth of his climax run through his veins. 

 

It was a good thing Lily had decided not to stay home this week, because Gajeel was certain he wouldn’t have been happy if he came home to find them naked on the kitchen counter. Levy lay in his arms as they both worked to catch their breath. He could practically feel her thrumming with the excitement of her victory and climax. She nuzzled her nose into his chest and pressed a kiss just above his heart. 

 

“Love you,” she purred. Gajeel rolled his eyes before he pressed a kiss to her hair. 

 

“That was just downright dirty, Lev,” he moaned in defeat. “Next time, I’m calling foul play and we’re starting all over again.” Her bell-like laugh shook her body as she looked up at him.

 

“All’s fair in love and war, baby,” she said with a wink. He smiled down at her, not even capable of pretending to be mad with her, as he leant down to press a kiss to her lips. As her tongue swiped across his bottom lip looking for permission, he knew he’d have to take his punishment head on in the morning. But for now, he was just going to bask in the glory of his sweet, sweet defeat. 

 

****

 

Pantherlily’s eyes widened as he watched Levy prance into the guild hall and hop down the steps from the doorway before turning to look back at the door expectantly. She was wearing a basketball tee with pastel pink sleeves and in mint curling letters across the front it said “Gajeel’s Little Fairy.” He’d been aware of their little game, which was why he’d been conveniently staying with Wendy and Charle. Just based on the scoreboard the two of them kept in the kitchen, the odds had been in Gajeel’s favor to win this one, but as the bluenette stood there motioning for someone to come in while wearing that shirt it looked to him as if he’d have lost that bet. A hush fell over the guild hall as the dragon slayer finally entered the establishment, the sun from outside briefly shrouding him with a shadow before the door closed to reveal Gajeel in a mint baseball tee that read “Levy’s Little Dragon Slayer” in pink lettering that matched Levy’s. Even without his exceed hearing, he would have been able to hear a pin drop. Then the guild hall erupted into laughter. 

 

“Lookin good, Gajeel!” Natsu yelled above the laughs and cheers. 

 

“Ah, laugh while you can!” Gajeel retorted with the grumpiest look on his face that Pantherlily had ever seen. (And he’d seen some pretty grumpy faces, mind you.) The iron dragon slayer threw his arm around Levy’s shoulders. Her smile lit up the place as she looked up at Gajeel, causing a slight blush to color his cheeks before he leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. It warmed Pantherlily’s heart knowing that his friend was so happy, no matter how much he tried to act tough. It also warmed his heart knowing that he’d be able to carry the memory of Gajeel in a pastel shirt to his grave. 


	6. Day 5: Firsts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is pretty fluffy. I'd be lying if I said I didn't make myself feel warm and fuzzy inside doing this one. No smut, but things are eluded to. Cuz like, you can't have a prompt of firsts without the big first, ya know?

Levy was Gajeel’s first crush before he even knew what a crush was. They were 5 years old and attached at the hip, her with her nose always in a book, and him her quiet protector. The adults in the guild always smiled like they knew something they didn’t whenever they went by, Levy somehow managing to navigate around the guild hall without looking up and Gajeel doing his best to look intimidating whenever any other of the boys their age tried to interrupt her. They had both arrived to the guild around the same time, which was why Gajeel told himself he always needed to stick with her. After all, it meant they were meant to be best friends right? As a five year old, he didn’t understand what the feeling in his chest was whenever she smiled down at her book, deep in her own world, unaware of everything else going on around her. All he knew was that the only time he was ever as happy as he was with the little blue haired girl was when he got to wrestle with Natsu, which meant he must really like her a lot.

 

Today, Levy was reading a book about a princess in a far away land with really long hair that was trapped in a tower. It sounded lame to him, but the way her eyes sparkled as she read the words must have meant she really liked it. He sat next to her a table in the guild hall, head propped on his folded arms just watching as her hazel eyes flickered back and forth across the page and occasionally up to him, and then back again. 

 

“Is it good, Lev?” He asked curiously, breaking the silence at their table. A bright smile broke across her small face. 

 

“It’s just so romantic,” she said without looking up. 

 

“Yuck,” Gajeel retorted, sticking his tongue out and making sure to exaggerate his wince. He actually didn’t mind that lovey dovey stuff, but he couldn’t let her know that. She might get the wrong idea or something. She giggled before shaking her head at him.

 

“You’ll like this romantic stuff one day, Gajeel Redfox,” she said, her eyes flickering up to meet his finally. His tummy got a funny feeling in it until she turned her attention back to her book. It must just be because he was hungry.

 

****

 

Gajeel was Levy’s first kiss. It happened at the Fall Ball when they were 12 years old. Even though the adults teased them ruthlessly, asking Levy if he was her “boooooyfriend,” she had known better than to get her hopes up. They were just best friends. They were Levy and Gajeel and they’d been inseparable for as long as she could remember. That didn’t mean she hadn’t totally had a crush on him for just as long, but as far as she was concerned, nobody needed to know that. She had been really shocked when her friend had come up to her after training one day, face still red from training, and asked if she wanted to go to this year’s fall ball with him. It was her favorite night of the year because everyone got to dress up really nice and spend the night dancing, eating and watching fireworks. Of course she said yes in a totally cool manner that wouldn’t in any way give away her secret feelings. (Well, maybe she did feel herself get really red and maybe she had yelled yes almost before he got the question out, but maybe she could pretend that was just due to being tired from training.)

 

The day had finally come and she was standing with Mira in the older girl’s room as they admired themselves in Mira’s full length mirror. The takeover mage had told Levy they were going to get ready together and that there was nothing she could do about it, so how could she have said no? (Really, Levy knew Mira would help her get prettier than ever for the dance, but no one needed to know that.) She almost didn’t recognize herself as she took in her appearance in the mirror. Mira had let her borrow a pale yellow boatneck dress that flowed around her and stopped just below her knees. There were delicate beads sewn in it, creating intricate swirls all over. Her hair was curled, and half of it was pulled back and a matching yellow headband adorned it. Mira had kept the makeup light, using it to bring out the brightness she already had about her and making her eyes pop. She didn’t really care what Gajeel thought since they were just friends, but if she did, she would have hoped the look made his heart skip a beat.

 

“Thanks Mira!” She cried, hugging the silver haired girl in excitement. 

 

“Happy to help, Levy,” Mira replied, hugging her back, careful not to disturb her handiwork. To her own credit, Mira was dressed in a bright pink dress that was a bit tighter and a bit shorter, and her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy, but cool kind of way. A knock on the door broke them apart as Mira went to answer. On the other side was Laxus and Gajeel, the former in black dress pants and a purple button up with a large grin on his face and the latter in a black suit, his hair tied back, and an uncertain look on his face. He’d been looking at the ground when the door had opened, and when he looked up, Levy was certain she saw a his cheeks redden. (Not that Levy thought he blushed. He was probably just really warm in that suit.)

 

“You look great, Mira!” Laxus said, reaching out to take his date’s hand so they could head to the hall downstairs where the festivities had begun. Mira smiled back at Levy before they disappeared out the door, leaving the two of them alone. She shuffled awkwardly in the silence, willing herself to say something as they just stared at each other. 

 

“You-” They both started at the same time, both stopping and blushing to let the other continue. 

 

“You first,” she said, mentally kicking herself for being so weird. This was her best friend after all, what was there even to be weird about. 

 

“You look beautiful,” he mumbled, looking up at her through his thick lashes. Her stomach flipped. Her friends and the adults had all called her pretty before, but no one had ever called her beautiful.

 

“Thanks,” she replied, her cheeks burning. “You look great too, Mr. Redfox.” She giggled, more because she couldn’t believe she’d just said that than anything. And if she noticed the smile that twitched at the corners of his lips when she’d said it, well, it’s not like she’d ever admit it. Gajeel held a hand out to her.

 

“Shall we join everyone?” He asked, his crimson eyes sparkling as she took his hand.

 

“Lead the way, sir,” Levy said excitedly. 

 

Everyone had been dressed up and had danced the entire night. Levy was sure this was the best of the fall balls, and while it wasn’t hard to guess why, it wasn’t like she’d ever admit it. Her and Gajeel were best friends, so of course they had a good time. They’d danced together all night, and laughed as they talked about everything and nothing. To the people around them, they were in their own little world and it was like no one else had been their for the entire night. The festivities were coming to a closer when Makarov announced that everyone should head outside because the fireworks were going to start in 10 minutes. While everyone else filed out the front door, Gajeel had stopped her, stuttering a bit as he had suggested they head to the roof instead. 

 

“You’ll be able to see better up there since you’re so short,” he teased, dodging her easily when she went to punch him in the arm. It was a quick trip up to the roof, and they were sitting side by side, arms just a breadth away from each other. She could feel the warmth that rolled off his skin and she leaned against him. Not because she liked him or anything, but because she was cold, of course. Her head landed perfectly where his shoulder was and she felt him tense up slightly before loosening up so they slotted together perfectly. The first of the fireworks lit the sky with a golden light. They were honestly so beautiful, and up on the roof with no one else around it felt almost like it was their own private show. 

 

“Lev?” Gajeel’s voice vibrated his body and she pulled away, looking up at him.

 

“Yeah?” She replied, trying to ignore the fact that the air around them suddenly felt heavy. Their gazes held for a moment before his flickered down to her mouth. As she felt herself leaning towards him, she imagined this was what magnets felt like. It was almost as if she couldn’t help herself, and her stomach erupted into a pit of excited butterflies as he leaned in towards her as well. Another round of fireworks lit the sky as their lips touched. This was definitely the best Fall Ball ever.

 

****

 

Levy was Gajeel’s first time. They were 18 and had been together officially for about a year now, though to be honest he was sure they’d been together for forever. He wasn’t quite sure what he was doing, but he’d be damned if he didn’t make it special for her. They’d agreed on a day, which had been weird to say the least, but he didn’t want to spring anything on her and he wanted to have time to prepare. He’d told Lily to stay with Natsu and Happy, and he was now setting up candles all throughout his room. Candles were supposed to be romantic right? His nerves were working on over drive and had been since he’d woken up this morning. He didn’t even get this nervous for missions, though he supposed that’d because he knew how to kick ass. He didn’t really know how to be romantic, or do... you know. 

 

If he hadn’t been worried about the rest of the guild finding out and giving them a hard time, he’d have asked Laxus or something for tips, but that would probably just end in disaster. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple as he set up the last candle. She was going to be there any minute and he was sure he was going to throw up. The plan was for them to enjoy a nice meal, and then he’d tell her to wait so he could run upstairs to his room and light the candles, then they’d head upstairs and... you know. 

 

He was setting the dinner table when he heard her heartbeat outside his door. He would know that sound anywhere. Right now it was beating in double time, and from the sound of it, she was trying to steady herself. He heard her take a deep breath and her heart rate slow just a smidge before her tiny knock sounded through the foyer. He tried to walk slowly to the door, reminding himself to remain calm. The last thing he needed was to open the door and looked like some crazed serial killer. His heart skipped a beat when he’d opened the door and saw her standing on the other side. 

 

She was dressed in her usual orange dress, but she was honestly the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. He wondered if his heart would ever stop doing that whenever he saw her. 

 

“Hi,” she said timidly, twirling a blue curl around her finger nervously. 

 

“Hey, Shrimp,” he smiled, moving out the way to let her through. _Alright, so far so good_ , he thought to himself. 

 

“Dinner smells good!” She exclaimed, aware that the cheeriness in her voice sounded fake. If only her damn nerves would get themselves under control. He led her to the dining table as if she hadn’t ever eaten dinner with him there and pulled her chair out for her.

 

“I made your favorite, spaghetti bolognese with my homemade french bread,” Gajeel replied, trying to bite back the nervous tremor in his voice. He turned to get the food when he felt her small hand grab his wrist and pull him back. He quirked an eyebrow as she pulled him down towards her and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth, causing the bottom of his stomach to heat up. 

 

“Okay,” she said with a smile when she pulled away. “Now you can get it.” 

 

Dinner went without a hitch. Somehow it had managed to go indescribably slow, but incredibly quick at the same time. They’d settled into their usual happy little world as they ate, both feeling the buzz of nervousness in their veins as they got wrapped up in talking about everything and nothing. Gajeel would be the first to admit that he didn’t understand how they could spend almost every day together, and never run out of things to say. Once they were finished, they both tackled the dishes, something they normally would try to put off as long as possible but... well, nerves will make you do all kinds of things you never thought you would. She washed while he dried. Occasionally Levy would splash some water at him, resulting in a quick water war before they’d continue the task at hand. Weirdly enough, it seemed to help a little bit. 

 

Finally, the dishes were done and there was an electric current running between them now that they didn’t have anything to keep the preoccupied. 

 

“Stay right here,” he said before leaning in to kiss her on the forehead. “I’ll be right back.” Taking the stairs up to his room two at a time, Gajeel could feel his blood racing. As he lit the candles he’s painstakingly placed all around the room, he kind of wished he was a fire dragon slayer just so he could have done it all at once. Once the last was lit, he admired his handiwork as the room glowed softly with the light. He inhaled deeply, trying to steady himself before walking back down the stairs. “You ready?” He asked his blue haired girl who was sitting on the counter waiting for him. Afraid of how she’d sound, she just nodded, reaching her arms out for him. 

 

Gajeel stepped forward, allowing her to wrap her arms around his neck as he lifted her up. He felt her legs wrap around his waist and he started to walk towards the stairs. She nuzzled her face into his neck and kissed the hollow of his throat as they made their way up. His usually messy room was tidy and small candles were set all around the room, littering his desk, dresser and night stand. It created a gorgeous glow that flickered on the walls. He gently set her on the bed, kneeling down in front of her. 

 

“Is this okay?” He asked. He wanted to make sure she felt safe and ready. She didn’t owe him anything, and he wanted to give her every chance to let him know if she wasn’t ready.

 

“Stupid Gajeel,” her light voice tinkled as her hand brushed against his cheek before pulling him up into a kiss. She’d never been so ready for anything in her life.

 

****

 

Gajeel was the last of Levy’s firsts. They were 22 and had just returned from a mission when it happened. He had been acting really weird the entire way home, but she kind of just chocked it up to the fact that his motion sickness had been getting increasingly worse the older he got. It must have been pretty bad this time around because he told her to go on ahead to the guild hall without him to report back while he went home for a little bit. 

 

“I’ll meet you there,” he’d said, a little void of color. He’d insisted he was okay though, so she figured she didn’t have too much to worry about. You’d think with as long as they’d been together, he would be able to let her know when he had a tummy ache, but whatever. He was a bonehead, but he was her bonehead nonetheless. Everyone was eyeing her expectantly when she’d walked in, which was pretty weird. Almost everyone smiled at her as she walked past, and while everyone in the guild was normally pretty nice, this was just starting to weird her out.

 

“Hey Mira,” she said as she approached the bar and sat on one of the stools. “Did something happen to make everyone.... strange?” She looked at the takeover mage whose own smile was almost blinding. 

 

“I think it’s just a great day, don’t you?” She asked sweetly. 

 

“Uh huh,” Levy said hesitantly. She could still feel everyone’s eyes on her as she stared at Mira, trying to lift answers from her just with her eyes. It was moments like these she really wished she had some sort of mind reading powers. “Anyway, me and Gajeel made it back in one piece, you can mark the job completed.” Mira just continued to smile as she nodded. “Okay, Mira, what the hell-” she started before she heard the door open and saw Mira’s smile widen. (How that was possible, Levy wasn’t sure.) She swung herself around in her stool, heart stuttering to a halt before picking up to an impossible speed. Gajeel was walking towards them, dressed in a black suit. It reminded her a lot of when they’d gone to the Fall Ball all those years ago. The color had returned to his cheeks. In fact, they were almost glowing red as he stopped in front of her and held her gaze. Everyone in the hall was silently watching as he knelt down on one knee in front of her. 

 

“Lev,” he said, still holding her gaze as he fiddled with a small black box in his hand. The world started to fall away around her and suddenly the only other person there, was Gajeel. 

 

“Yeah,” she breathed, aware that if he didn’t have that dragon hearing of his, he probably wouldn’t have heard her. 

 

“You are the light of my life,” he said, his voice wavering with nerves. If she wasn’t completely speechless, she would have told him he had nothing to be nervous about. But at the moment her tongue was glued to the roof of her mouth and it was taking everything in her to not pass out. “Without you, I’m not sure I would be able to make it through my darkness. You were the first person I ever got along with here, the first girl I kissed, the first of many things, and Lev,” he paused as he finally opened the box to reveal a small, silver band. It looked delicately braided with metal and just from looking at it, she knew this was what he’d been working on in his workshop for the past couple of months. She felt the tears rolling down her cheeks before she even knew she had started crying. “I would be honored if I could be your last.” 

 

She knew this was when she was supposed to talk, but the lump in her throat from the tears of joy were stopping any words from coming out. It may have honestly been for the best, because for the first time in her life, she didn’t know how to put into words how she felt. She’d loved Gajeel for as long as she could remember. If she was being honest, she’d always known that they’d end up together. From the very beginning she’d always read the stories about princesses with their princes and just knew she’d found hers. But now that it was happening, she didn’t know how to put into words the kind of love that came with a lifetime. All eyes were on her as she continued to stare down at the dragon slayer as tears fell into her lap. With a small squeak, she leapt off her stool and onto him, knocking him to the ground and knocking her head against his. She didn’t care if she looked silly, if she couldn’t make the word yes come out of her mouth, she’d just have to show them.

 

Right there, in front of their guild family, she kissed him and tried to put her acceptance into that one kiss. Luckily, he understood her as she felt him wrap his arms around her back and kiss her back. The hall erupted into cheers as she pulled back and smiled down at him, seeing that her big strong dragon slayer also had some tears in his eyes. 

 

“I told you you’d like this romantic stuff one day,” she croaked finally as he grabbed her left hand and pushed the silver band onto her ring finger. She felt him chuckle beneath her as he shook his head. 

 

“Yeah you did, Shrimp,” he said before giving her another quick kiss. 

 

“Alright you guys,” Levy heard Mira yell over the cheers that were still going. “It’s time for us to celebrate!”


	7. Day 6: Wedding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this technically has a little something something for all the ships. LET ALL THE SHIPS SAIL! Lol. It also goes with the previous prompt. And the next-- AND FINAL ONE YAY-- will also go with them. A little trilogy of prompts, if you will.

No. If you asked Levy if she was having doubts, or cold feet, the answer was a hard and steadfast no. She had been waiting for this day since, well, they were kids and she considered Gajeel to be her prince. Which she knew was stupid, but there it was. So no, she wasn’t having doubts. She was, however, terrified that she was forgetting something as she sat in the dressing room wrapped in her silk dressing gown with BRIDE embroidered on the back. Her bridesmaids all tittered around her excitedly in their own silk dressing gowns, embroidered on the front with their first initials.Lucy was saying something excitedly as she twisted Levy’s hair before pinning it into place. 

 

“Hm?” Levy asked when she realized Lucy was waiting for an answer. 

 

“I was wondering if you had all the things! Something old, something borrowed, something blue and something new?” Another piece of hair twisted, another pin. Then her stomach dropped. How, could she possibly have forgotten her somethings old, new, borrowed and blue? She’d been so busy with last minute preparations that she’d completely forgotten. Levy knew it wasn’t a huge deal if she didn’t have them, it was just a superstition really but her greatest secret was that she was incredibly superstitious and she just couldn’t start her marriage in bad luck. Her face must have showed her panic as Lucy pressed her hands to Levy’s shoulders. 

 

“It’s okay, Lev, breath,” she said soothingly. “Leave it to your bridesmaids! Ladies!”

 

The room went silent as Erza, Cana, Juvia and Mira all turned towards the maid of honor and bride-to-be. 

 

“Need a drink for the nerves, Blue?” Cana asked, holding out a flask to her. It was suddenly very hard for her to breathe. 

 

“Cana! This is serious!” Lucy barked, entering crisis control mode. “Levy doesn’t have something old, something new, something borrowed or something blue.” Levy didn’t miss the small gasp that came from Erza. “It’s up to us to find her these things for her! The ceremony starts in t-2 hours, so time is of the essence! Erza, you’re on something new. Juvia, you’re on something old. Mira, it’s up to you to find something blue. I’ll take something borrowed. Cana, your duty is to finish helping Levy get ready and--” she stopped looking at the slight green color that the bluenette was turning-- “Don’t let her throw up. Everyone meet back here 30 minutes before the ceremony, got it!” 

 

Each girl affirmed their tasks before they ran out of the room. Honestly, if she wasn’t freaking out, it would have been funny how seriously they were taking their mission. However Levy was freaking out, so it was not funny at all. The room was silent as she turned to Cana.

 

“I might take you up on that drink,” she said.

 

****

 

Gray wasn't sure, but they may have overdone it with the bachelor party. To be fair, how should they have known that Bacchus would crash the party and drink everyone under the table? As he approached Gajeel's dressing room, he saw Pantherlily sitting outside the door.

 

"How's it goin, man?" Gray asked, wondering if the exceed was going to let him in. Juvia had seemed pretty adamant about him needing to get "something old." If he was being honest, he'd missed half of what she'd said because she'd seemed so flustered, but the main jist seemed to be Levy needed it and Juvia had been searching and couldn't find anything. How she couldn't find something old in a church was beyond him, but she'd started to cry and he just couldn't handle it when she cried so her agreed to grab something of Gajeel's. He already had in mind what to get anyway. Lily looked up at him and yawned. The little guy had had a rough night too. 

 

"He's getting in a quick cat nap," was all Lily replied. With how much he'd had to drink, Gray was surprised he'd even made it to the church.

 

"That's fine, just gotta grab something real quick," he said, headed toward the door. Lily's hand shot out and grabbed the leg of his tux, raising an eyebrow. The exceed was taking his best man duties pretty seriously it seemed. "It's.... for the bride?" Gray wasn't sure why he'd decided to say it. He'd once heard you could get away with anything at a wedding if you said it was for the bride, but he hadn't really thought it would be something to work. Lily's eyes widened slightly as he let go of the ice mage's pants. 

 

"Go ahead, just don't wake him up," he warned. "If you thought he was a pain in the ass already, you've never dealt with him when he's just woken up." Gray nodded his thanks as he slowly pushed opened the door. Now to just find his something old and he'd be on his way. His eyes searched the room, looking for the silver chain. Gajeel had been showing it off to the rest of the guys the night before about midway through their night. (Aka while they all were still able to function.) He hadn't really pegged the dragon slayer as the sentimental type but he had proudly proclaimed the delicate silver chain to be a gift from his father Metalicana. 

 

"He'd made it for me from one of his own scales," he'd hiccuped while pulling at the chain around his neck. If that didn't constitute as something old, Gray wasn't sure what would. But where would it be? Hopefully, not still on him. His eyes found Gajeel sprawled across the big couch in the corner of the room, one leg thrown over the top of it and his head hanging off as he snored loudly. Impressively enough, he was already in his tux and comatose state aside, he actually looked pretty good. From the looks of it, the chain wasn't around his neck still, which cause Gray to let out a sigh of relief. If it wasn't there then... he continued to scan the room before his eyes landed on a vanity on the other side. On it sat two small black boxes and the chain. He walked towards it, picking it up gently. 

 

Mission accomplished, he smiled to his reflection in the vanity mirror.

 

"Gray?" The voice was full of sleep and grit but still cause him to tense. Whirling around, he threw the hand with the chain into his pocket.

 

"Y-yeah?" He stuttered. Gajeel yawned before scratching his stomach and readjusting himself on the couch.

 

"Kick Natsu's ass," the sleepy voice trailed off. A small bead of sweat dropped down Gray's forehead as he ran out the room. 

 

****

 

"So, you want me to steal something from Gajeel?" Jellal had asked, staring at the scarlet haired wizard in front of him. She sighed loudly and messaged her temple. 

 

"No, I want you to steal something new from Gajeel," she had said, sounding exasperated. "Levy doesn't have any of the traditional things and we have to find them but I have looked all over this damn church and I can't find anything new, and I still need to get ready." She had been rambling, and if Jellal knew anything, that meant she was frustrated. He wasn't sure how he could possibly find something new, but he would do his best for her. He had placed a hand on each of her shoulders before pulling her in for a quick kiss to stop her from talking.

 

"Leave it to me, Erza," he had smiled. Now, as he stood inside the groom's room, he thought maybe he'd bitten off a bit more than he could chew. It had already been hard enough just getting in past Lily-- thank goodness no one questions things when you say it's for the bride-- but how was he even supposed to know what in the room was new? Too bad he couldn't just ask Gajeel himself, but with the snoring and the fact his face was shoved into the back of the couch he was passed out on, it didn't seem he'd be getting an answer anytime soon. Standing in the room, it felt weird to be there. He had already felt out of place in the wedding party, unsure of why Gajeel had even asked him to be one of his groomsmen. They'd gotten along well enough at the magic games but he hadn't thought he'd made that great of an impression. It was an honor, and he was grateful that he'd more or less been adopted into their little family, even after his past. 

 

Of course, also hadn't thought he'd be tasked with steal from the groom either, but here he was. His eyes scanned the area, only really seeing Gajeel and the two ring boxes on the vanity. The man certainly kept things minimal, didn't he? He was about to give up when his eyes landed on the case of fresh lilies on the windowsill. If they were fresh, they had to be knew, right? As Jellal walked past the sleeping man, he shifted, flipping onto his back and sniffing the air in his sleep. He'd need to get out of there quick before he woke up and asked what the hell he was doing sneaking around the room. With a quick motion, he snatched a lily out of the vase and made a break for it.

 

****

 

Mira could be very persuasive. One minute, she was her normal sweet self asking Laxus if he could manage to grab something from Gajeel's room to be Levy's something borrowed. Apparently she'd searched the entirety of the church and couldn't find anything that wouldn't be blasphemous to steal. Er, borrow. He should have known better than to say no, but after the night he and the rest of the guys had had, he wasn't exactly thinking on all cylinders. But he said no, and the next minute he was against the wall and face-to-face with Satan Soul. (How it wasn't blasphemous to take that form in a church, he wasn't sure but in his position he sure as hell wasnt going  to ask.) 

  
"Excuse me," her voice was low as she leant forward to whisper in his ear. "I don't think you want me to ask again." Her tongue darted out and licked his earlobe before she pulled back.

 

"Something borrowed, got it," he said as he conceded defeat. "Now let me go, Mir, before I start to think thoughts that get us struck down." 

 

"Good boy," Satan Soul said, letting him go as she returned to Mira. "Thanks babe!" She smiled and kissed him on the cheek before prancing off. Laxus rubbed a hand down his face before heading towards Gajeel's room. It wouldn't be hard to find something, he was sure. Lily looked up at him from where he sat in front of the door. 

 

"Let me guess, for the bride?" The exceed asked, not even bothering to move. 

 

"Something like that," Laxus replied before pushing his way into the room. He was met by loud snores coming from Gajeel, who was lying asleep on his stomach on the couch. At least he wouldn't have to answer any questions about what he was doing, as far as missions went, it was quite easy. The question was, what could he take? As far as he could tell, the only other thing in the room besides the groom himself were the rings. Leave it to Gajeel to get to his own wedding without anything extra. A glimmering light on the carpet by the couch caught his eye. A small iron button lay on the ground next to the sleeping dragon slayer. If he remembered correctly, it was one of the buttons from Gajeel's tux vest. And now, it was his something borrowed. Bending down to pick it up, he felt a heavy hand land on top of his head, causing him to stop where he was.

 

"Thanks, Lil," Gajeel grumbled, eyes still shut as he pet Laxus' head. If he wasn't asleep, and the groom, he would have zapped him right then and there. The hand fell away and Laxus snatched up the button before heading for the exit. Mira and Satan Soul were going to owe him when they got home. 

 

****

 

Nastu couldn't deny Lucy anything. He especially couldn't deny her anything when she was almost crying, and he definitely couldn't deny an opportunity to get into mischief. So when Lucy had come up to him, eyes shining with tears and a mission for him to steal something blue from Gajeel's room, well, he definitely couldn't say no. She had hugged him tightly and kissed him on the cheek, thanking him profusely. 

 

Getting in had been easy enough. Happy had flown him up to the window, and with his great breaking and entering skills, he was in in no time. He had to stifle a laugh when he saw Gajeel passed out on his back on the couch. Wow, could this guy not hold his liquor.   


"C'mon, Natsu, we have to hurry," Happy whispered. "Lucy said she needs to get it to Levy real soon." 

  
"I'm goin, little buddy," Natsu hissed, eyeing his target. Pressed neatly into Gajeel's breast pocket was a blue pocket square that reminded him a lot of Levy's hair actually. Happy saw where Natsu's eyes were trained and shook his head.

 

"I don't think that's a good idea," he warned. 

 

"Shh," the pink haired dragon slayer shushed as he tip toed towards the groom. Ever so slowly, he reached over him and delicately grabbed the square with his two fingers. Holding his breath, Natsu started to pull it from his pocket. It was almost all the way out, when Lily walked in.

 

"Time to wake up, Gajeel," he said loudly before stopping. "Natsu! What are you doing?!" The iron dragon slayer's eyes shot open and all Natsu could see was crimson. 

 

"Salamander!" Gajeel yelled, sitting up and pushing the fire dragon slayer away from him. The pocket square went flying with him as he stumbled back. 

 

"Well, look at the time!" Nastu exclaimed, his target safely clutched in his hand. "Glad you're up, gotta go!" He said as he turned on his heel and ran out of the room. Mission accomplished. 

 

****

 

Levy was a vision in her dress. The cream colored lace sheath wedding dress clung to the curves she had, and scooped low on the back and cut into a shallow v in the front. It was simple, but it looked perfect on her. Her veil sat atop her blue hair and fell down the back perfectly. The women all stood around her, a couple wiping away tears as they looked at their friend. Juvia stepped forward with Mira, the former holding out a silver chain with what looked like an iron button on it. 

 

"Something old," she cooed as she stepped behind Levy to put it on her.

 

"And something borrowed," Mira said as she pulled back the veil to get it out of Juvia's way. The chain fell down Levy's chest, with the button landing between her breasts and under the fabric where the v ended. Erza came forward next, a white lily in her hand.

 

"Something new," she smiled as she tucked it into her hair at her ear. Lucy stepped up from behind her, with Levy's garter in her hand. Tied around it was a piece of blue silk that matched the color of Levy's hair. It looked oddly familiar. 

 

"And finally, something blue," the celestial wizard said, pressing the fabric into her hand. Levy felt the tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

 

"You guys are the best," she said as she opened her arms towards all her bridesmaids. As they all swarmed together for a group hug, Levy couldn't help but feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Now, she was ready to get down the aisle.   


****

 

It was a good thing Gajeel wasn't the superstitious type, or he'd find his stuff being missing to be an ill omen. His groomsmen has been suspiciously quiet when he'd asked if any of them knew where his chain, pocket square and one of his vest buttons had gone. Of course, they probably had also been suffering from the night before. At least he'd been lucky enough to catch some shut eye. His nerves were started to thrum as he stood at the alter, and he nearly felt as if he'd bust out of his skin once he'd heard the the bridal march start. The second she'd entered, it was like everyone else in the room had disappeared. Seeing her then, as the sunlight streamed in through the stain glass windows causing multi-colored lights to dance across her skin, he knew he would be the happiest man for the rest of his life. His blue haired fairy was the single most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, and he suspected that he'd ever see. She smiled at him as she caught his eye, causing his heart to skip a beat. As she reached the alter and positioned herself in front of him, he noticed the chain that lay at her throat. The flower in her hair looked an awful lot like the ones that had been in his room too. He quieted an eyebrow at her as he slipped a finger under the chain and pulled it up to reveal the iron button attached to it. Gajeel couldn't help but laugh.

 

"What is it?" She asked as he let the chain fall from the tip of his finger. 

 

"I was wondering where all my stuff had gone off to," he replied. A look of confusion briefly passed across her face before her eyes lit with understanding. A smile broke across her face as her eyes flickered to his empty breast pocket. She grabbed his hands with hers.  


"Just you wait till you see where your pocket square went," she said sweetly before nodding to the priest to go ahead and start. 

 

****

 

Cheers erupted from the crowd as Gajeel disappeared under Levy's dress. It was honestly such an embarrassing tradition, and she couldn't help but blush insanely as she felt him kiss his way up her thigh before grabbing the garter with his teeth. As he started to back out from under the fabric, the garter went with him until he was free and he pulled it the rest of the way off her leg with his hands. Making quick work of the knot that held the blue square to the elastic piece, he handed it to Levy with a wicked twinkle in his eye.

 

"That was definitely a much better use for it than what I had had in mind," he chuckled before pulling back on the garter and sending it flying into the crowd. He didn't even take the time to see where it landed before he turned back to Levy, offering her a hand to help her stand up from the chair she sat upon. 

  
"Now, Mrs. Redfox," he smiled using the name for the first time, "what do you say we get outta here?"


	8. Day 7: Kids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S THE FINAAAAL CHAPTEEEEEER! (To the tune of Final Countdown.) This was a tiring challenge, y'all, but felt like the best way to come out of my writing hiatus. It definitely got me back into a writing headspace, and I'll definitely be excited to continue with some stuff. If y'all have any preferences for the type of fics you would like to me to work on-- like fluff, smut, AU, etc-- lemme know! I will definitely NOT be writing something everyday moving forward lol Cuz that shit wild, but if you happen to have any prompts you'd like to sling my way, I'd love to do like one or two one-shots a week based on those! I'll also most likely be starting a longform fic within the next week or so :) 
> 
> (Also, nothing rated R, but some getting naked does occur near the end)

His name was Geppetto, and honestly, he should have been as easy wizard to defeat. It should have been a one-and-done, in-and-out, little to no fucking about. His magic was a bit like Bickslow’s, except instead of putting souls into dolls, he was able to make the dolls into real people. The problem was, they turned into kids so they didn’t really pose much of a threat. (Haha, Geppetto, Pinocchio, Levy got it.) In fact, on the surface it had seemed easy enough. Gajeel, Levy and Panther Lily had taken him out pretty easily. There had been a slight scare when Lily had been hit with a spell square in the chest, but while it had thrown him back quite a ways, he’d gotten up and managed to continue to fight until they had the guy in cuffs. 

 

Their little family had been triumphant, hit the bar at the guild on the way home before they stumbled into their house, Levy and Gajeel retiring to their room upstairs and Lily heading to his downstairs. The three of them were very unprepared for the surprise that met them in the morning.

 

****

 

Levy was having another dream about the small, faceless blue haired children. Though they didn’t have faces, they knew they were supposed to be hers. The first time she’d had the dream, it had really freaked her out. Her and Gajeel had been married now for about a year and a half, and she was aware that the next step was kids. She wanted kids with him, of course she did. In fact, she wanted nothing more than to be able to create a tiny person that they could call their very own. The miracle of life was honestly a fascinating thing. However, the idea of pushing a miniature Gajeel out of her body was the single most terrifying thing she had ever imagined. So it wasn’t like she was in any rush. He didn’t seem to be in any rush either, they were just fine with their little family that consisted of themselves and Panther Lily. That didn’t seem to stop everyone’s incessant questioning.

 

The questions had started a few months into their marriage, she suspected after folks had deemed their “honeymoon phase” to be over. The first dream followed shortly after, causing her to wake up in a panic, the shirt she stole from Gajeel for her pajamas soaked through with a cold sweat. She’d gotten used to the dreams by now, almost welcomed the little glimpse into her future, whenever they finally decided to work on that. Tonight’s dream featured the family all snuggling together on their bed as rain fell outside. The faceless girl was curled up in the crook of Gajeel’s arm, her head resting on his chest as she traced random designs onto his dark shirt. The faceless boy was tucked under Levy’s chin, tinkering with a little iron dragon. It felt so real as she rest her cheek on top of the boy’s hair, enjoying the imagined warmth on her cheek. She could definitely be okay with this.

 

“Psst, Gajeel,” the faceless boy said. _Huh, that was weird_ , Levy thought to herself as her dream self looked down at the kid. They normally didn’t talk in her dream, and she’d definitely thought her kids would refer to Gajeel as dad, even if they were just her dream children. “Psst,” another hiss from the faceless boy. She heard small footsteps shuffling across the room before a small finger poked into her cheek. That felt entirely too real to be a dream. Her eyes fluttered open, the image of the faceless children falling away and replaced by another child. This one definitely had a face, and was very much real. He was incredibly close to Levy’s face, so much so all she could see were wide dark eyes, and a deep scar through the kid’s left eyebrow. 

 

****

 

Gajeel hadn’t ever woken up as quickly in his life as he had when he heard Levy scream. Without fully opening his eyes, he grabbed a hold of her arm pulling her back into him as he leapt out of the bed. He held her to his chest with his right arm, unleashing his scales over his left to protect them from whatever danger had caused her to cry out. Only, it didn’t look there was anything there.

 

“Levy, what the hell?” He croaked, his voice still heavy with sleep as he let her go. The bluenette just pointed to her side of the bed, and he saw her arm tremble slightly. He squinted in that direction, wondering if maybe there had been a big bug or something that he’d missed. Anything that would warrant that kind of scream so early in the morning. That’s when the small head peaked over the edge of the bed. It continued to rise to reveal a kid that didn’t look like he could be more than 5 or 6 years old. He was a small little thing, with shaggy black hair, wide black eyes and dressed in nothing more than a pair of green pants. A pair of green pants that looked oddly familiar. That’s when Gajeel noticed the scar through his eyebrow.

 

“Holy shit,” he muttered, not believing his eyes. “Lily?” The kid’s eyes sparkled as his bottom lip started to quiver. He hopped up on the bed and ran across it before leaping into the air and onto Gajeel, throwing his little arms around the dragon slayer’s neck.

 

“Gajeel,” Lily cried in his neck. “I don’t know what happened but I don’t want to be a kiiiiid.” If it wasn’t for how shocking the whole thing was, it actually would have been a little funny. He wrapped his arms around his friend as he held him up.

 

“Lily?” Levy said curiously, looking at Gajeel who just shrugged.

 

“Hey, c’mon bud, it’s okay,” he tried to say reassuringly as he started bouncing the former exceed as one would any other child that was fussy. 

 

“Don’t patronize meeeee,” Lily whined into his neck, pulling on a handful of Gajeel’s hair. He couldn’t help but chuckle. Of course Lil would be able to still use words like patronize but not be able to control his tear ducts. Levy reached out hesitantly before she started to rub Lily’s back. Gajeel could feel his dragon parent instinct rearing to life as he continued to hold his friend. It didn’t matter that normally he could become a behemoth of a panther with a giant sword, right now he was just a kid and he knew he needed to protect him.

 

“How about we go make some breakfast, Lil,” he said as soothingly as he could before walking towards the door. He wasn’t quite sure what the hell was happening, but he did know pancakes would be a step in the right direction.

 

****

 

Levy still wasn’t exactly sure how to wrap her mind around the fact she was walking hand-in-hand with a tiny human version of Panther Lily. Gajeel had made them pancakes, which seemed to calm the one exceed down quite a bit, though he did occasional sniffle as he sat on his designated seat at their table. They’d kept him preoccupied with some paper and pencils from her work station as they stole away to do the dishes and discuss whatever it was that was going on.

 

“So I was thinking,” she’d started as she grabbed the freshly washed dish from Gajeel and started to wipe it dry with a towel.

 

“What else is new,” he’d said, elbowing her lightly in the arm. She added the dry plate to her finished stack as she stuck her tongue out at him.

 

“Not the time for jokes, Redfox,” she’d said as sternly as she could. (Which, wasn’t very.) “I was thinking, do you think this may have been from when he got hit by Geppetto?”  
  
“There’s always time for jokes, Redfox,” he’d shot back, winking at her before turning his eyes back to the dish he was working on. The kitchen was filled with the sound of the water running as he scrubbed the syrup off. “It’s definitely a possibility. We should ask Makarov though before we do anything else.”

 

And that was how Levy ended up here, walking towards the hall with the 5-year-old Lily, who was wearing one of her white shirts that she normally reserved for training since it was the only thing small enough to fit him. Stupid Gajeel, sending her to the guild alone with a kid knowing full well how everyone had been giving her grief. All because he “had to go find something in the attack real quick.” Like she believed that. When this fiasco was over, he was going to pay for throwing her to the wolves like this. They were now standing in front of the entrance, and she was just trying to mentally prepare. With any luck, everyone would be out. She felt Lily tug on her hand for her attention.

 

“Are you okay, Levy?” He asked, cocking his head to the side. She felt her heart squeeze at the sight of him. He was honestly too adorable for words.

 

“I’m fine, Lil,” she smiled at him. “Just trying to explain what I’m doing with a tiny human is all.” He muttered, his lower lip poking out as he looked at her with that displeased look only children managed to pull off.

 

“I’m not a tiny human,” he grumbled causing her to laugh. 

 

“C’mon, Lil. Let’s see if the master might know anything.” They pushed the door open to find Cana and Mira at the bar. A sigh of relief slipped from her lips as she saw that it looked like everyone else had found jobs to do. While the two of them would give her some serious shit, at least it was just the two. The card mage’s eyes were downright predatory as her and Lily walked up to the bar. 

 

“Who’s this little guy, Blue?” She asked, a wicked smile stretching across her lips. Here it came. “He looks like he takes after a certain dragon slayer we know. Have you been hiding a secret love child from us?” Mira stifled a laugh into the towel she was using to wipe the bar down. They were both the biggest offenders when it came to asking Levy about kids, she suspected because they wanted to get their hands on them to ruin them and then give them back. 

 

“It’s a very long story,” she sighed as she saw Lily pouting up at Cana from the corner of her eye. “Is the master around?” Levy turned her attention to Mira, knowing she’d know if Makarov was up in his office. 

 

“Sure is,” Mira replied, eyeing the kid next to Levy. There was something familiar about him. “He’s about to head out to the council actually for the wizard’s trial. The one you, Gajeel and--” Levy saw the moment it all clicked. “Lily?!” She gasped at Levy’s pint-sized companion.

 

“Lily?” Cana asked confusedly, turning her full attention from her drink to the child. “Holy crap, Lily?!” 

 

“Took you two long enough,” he said, pulling his hand from Levy’s and pointing between the pair of them. “I can’t believe you think I look like Levy and Gajeel!” There was a beat of silence before the three women standing around him started to laugh. It was just so hard to take him serious when he was so adorable.

 

“That’s not nice,” he said, deflating slightly and hanging his head in shame. Levy couldn’t resist as she patted his hair reassuringly. 

 

“Sorry, Lil. Let’s go catch the master.” He nodded under her hand, reaching up to grab it with his hand again. Levy could hear her friends’ hushed voices as they walked towards the door that led to Makarov’s office. 

 

****

 

The dark haired boy lay across the seat of the train with his head in Levy’s lap. His wife was staring out the window, lost in deep thought as she was running her fingers through his hair. If the motion of the train didn’t make Gajeel feel like he was dying, he may have admired the scene, loving the way motherhood looked on Levy, even if it was only a quick glimpse as they were taking care of their friend. He knew she eventually wanted to have kids, and he’d wait as long as she wanted him to, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t overly excited at the idea of having their own kid to take care of. 

 

Another wave of nausea hit him as he leant forward in his seat across from his companions and placed his head in his hands. After Levy and Lily had come home from meeting with Makarov, they’d informed him that they would need to head out to the capitol in the morning to meet with the council. Makarov had said he’d set up a meeting for them with Geppetto after his trial for first thing in the morning, and while Gajeel was grateful that he’d do that, he honestly could have gone without starting his day on the god forsaken train. 

 

“You okay, babe?” Levy’s quiet voice cut through his thoughts. He looked up, and tried to smile reassuringly at her. 

 

“I’ll be fine,” he said, his voice full of grit. He nodded to Lily, who had rolled over and nuzzled his face into Levy’s stomach. “It’s Lil I’m worried about.” He watched as she smiled down at his friend in her lap. 

 

“We’ll get him back to normal,” she said as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind Lily’s ear. “We always figure something out.”

 

It wasn’t too much longer before they finally reached their stop, Gajeel stumbling off the train and taking a large, steadying breath of fresh air. He already felt so much better just being away from that metal death trap. His eyes scanned the crowd as he saw Mest standing there, waving for them. Levy and Lily joined his side, and he reached down to take Lily’s small hand in his own as they headed to the meet up with the council member. Mest smiled at them nodding at each as he greeted them

 

“Gajeel, Levy, Panther Lily,” his eyes lingered on the last of their group, causing him to frown.

 

“Don’t you say anything,” Lily said, aware how pathetic he must look with Levy and Gajeel on either side of him holding his hands. The council member just shrugged.

 

“Wasn’t gonna,” was all he said before he led them towards the exit so they could head to the jail the council used. It wasn’t too long of a walk, surprisingly, and Mest filled what little time it took by filling them in on how the trial had gone the day before. Geppetto had been found guilty of using illegal magic, and would end up spending 10 years in prison before he’d be released but would need to check in with the council once a month for the rest of his life. It sounded like a fair enough punishment after he’d created a toy child army and tried to take over his own town. They were able to walk straight through into the building with their escort. Gajeel couldn’t help but noticed Lily’s small hand squeeze his a little tighter as they continued down into the lower levels of the building, which were certainly a bit more gloomy than the entrance had been. He smiled down at him, and nearly ran right into Mest. 

 

“He’s in here,” he said. Gajeel grunted in acknowledgement before turning to his blue haired girl and Lily. 

 

“How about you guys stay out here, and I’ll go talk to Geppetto, huh?” He suggested, not sure he wanted Lily to be in the same room with the guy again. Lily gave him quite a disgruntled look as he pulled his hand from Levy’s and crossed his arms over his chest.

 

“Gajeel,” he started, the small pout forming on his mouth. Kneeling before him, Gajeel put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small iron dragon. When they’d gone to talk to Makarov, he’d rummaged through his things in the attic to find it. It had been a gift for him from Metalicana when he was just a boy, and he’d been saving it for his kids but it seemed like it could be useful now. Though he knew Lily was fighting the urger to snatch the toy from his hand, he saw the boy’s eyes light up. Finally, Lily took it from his hand and started to move it around like it was flying in the sky. “I’m still mad though,” Lily said, before he hopped onto a chair outside Geppetto’s cell and continued to play with the small dragon. 

 

“I’ll talk to Geppetto and see if we can get him to turn Lil back. Stay out here with him?” Levy’s eyes were trained on Lily as he was making roaring noises with the dragon. 

 

“Of course,” she said when she turned back to him, a weird look in her eye. Gajeel kissed her forehead before turning to enter the cell with Mest.

 

****

 

Lily would be back to normal within about a day or so, which, was a relief. Not that Levy didn’t enjoy how small and adorable their friend was currently, it had just been putting a lot of thoughts and ideas in her head that she wasn’t sure she was ready to face head on. Well, the fact she kept thinking about it probably meant she was, but she wasn’t ready to admit that just yet. By the time they got off the train in Magnolia, the stars had already come out and poor Lily had been tired out from the day of travel and waiting for Gajeel to get information from Geppetto. Apparently there wasn’t really much the wizard could do, because he’d never managed to turn a living thing into a kid before, that’s why he’d always used dolls. Just based on what he knew of his powers though, the spell would wear off anywhere within 24-72 hours. It hadn’t been too helpful, and the realization had caused quite the tantrum from Lily. One that was unlike any tantrum she had ever seen from any actual human child, but she’d marveled as Gajeel had just picked him up off the floor he’d been pounding his fists against and wiped his tears away and carried him out of the prison. The warm feeling it created in her stomach was a strange one, and still hadn’t faded as they were now walking down the street to their home. 

 

Lily was still in Gajeel’s arms, having fallen asleep again on the train. His snores were so little as his mouth hung open and his head stay trained on the dragon slayer’s shoulder. She hung back a bit, watching the sight and knowing that Gajeel was going to make an amazing dad. 

 

“Ya comin, Shrimp?” He yelled over his other shoulder, reaching his free hand out to her. “Or do I need to carry you too?” She couldn’t help but laugh as she ran to catch up, grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers. They walked home in a comfortable silence. She loved that they could just be together without filling silence with talk. It was one of her favorite things about Gajeel. Just being around him was enough for her. As they walked, she caught passersby smiling at them before turning to their friends and she knew to them they must look like a happy family. The warm feeling in her stomach grew. Maybe having a kid now wouldn’t be too bad. After they made sure Lily was back to his normal self, of course. 

 

She hadn’t realized how tired she’d been until they walked into their home and the weight of the day slipped from her shoulders. It really had been a long day. 

 

“I’m going to put him in bed,” Gajeel said as he walked towards Lily’s room. She headed up the stairs to their own, and plopped down onto it, not even caring that it wasn’t her side. Her eyes traced the patterns in their ceiling, trying to push away the idea of Gajeel tucking in the faceless blue haired children from her dreams and the yearning feeling it caused. Lost deep in her thoughts, she didn’t hear her husband enter the room. 

 

“You’re on my side,” he growled playfully as he climbed on top of her, straddling her and leaning down onto his forearms so his face was just inches from hers.

 

“Whatcha gonna do about it?” She asked, lifting her head to kiss the tip of his nose. 

 

“I’ll show you what I’m gonna do, Shrimp,” he smiled as he leant down and pressed their lips together. After being together for so long, and being married, you’d think at some point his touch would stop setting her blood on fire but that hadn’t been the case. In fact, as his tongue swept the inside of her mouth she couldn’t help but moan into it as she tangled her hands into his hair. She didn’t think there would be any point where she’d stop wanting him as badly as she did. His mouth traveled to her neck, biting and sucking down to her collar bone as her hands found the hem of his shirt and pushed it up so she could run her hands over his abs. The heat in her stomach had spread downwards and the space between them was electric as she started to tug on the fastenings of his pants. He moaned against the dip of her collar bone before he slipped an arm under her back and flipped them so he was laying on the bed and she was on top of him. His crimson eyes were full of hunger and fire as she tugged her dress over her head, leaving her in her strapless bar and underwear. She dropped the fabric onto the bed beside them and pushed up on his shirt until he took the hint and sat up to remove it. She threw her arms around his neck as she kissed him, biting on his lip and grinding her hips into his. She loved the way she could make him moan if she was being honest. It was such a wonderful sound. As he was fiddling with the clasp of her bra, a loud peel of thunder shook the windows. She felt the clasp give way as the strapless fell down between them. Pressing her breasts into his chest, he lay back without breaking the kissing, his hands now free to tangle in her hair. She could feel his hardness beneath her as her hips ground into his again. Another clap of thunder sounded, this time followed by a squeak and a knock on the door. 

 

“No,” Gajeel growled, as he pulled away from their kiss. It took a moment for Levy to realize what was happening as another small knock rapped on their door. She couldn’t help but laugh. She suddenly understood why people always joked about how kids were the ultimate cockblock. Pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek, she pushed herself off of him, grabbing her discarded clothes and heading for their bathroom. Through the bathroom door, she heard Gajeel growl again before getting up and walking to the door.

 

“Hey Lil,” she heard him say as she dropped her clothes into the dirty clothes hamper and grabbed her stolen pajama shirt off the hook on the back of the door. 

 

“Can I sleep with you guys tonight?” Lily’s little voice trembled as thunder rumbled again. The lights flickered in the bathroom and she heard the little guy squeak again. She pulled the pajama shirt over her head before walking up to the sinkand grabbing her toothbrush.

 

“Yeah, Lil, c’mon,” Gajeel replied and from the sound of it, helped their friend crawling into their bed. A small smile crept onto her face before she started to brush her teeth.

 

****

Gajeel had never felt so warm and cozy as he did as he slowly started to drift out of sleep. Levy’s head was on his chest, her hair tickling his nose slightly but filling his sense with her floral scent. He would never get enough of her scent if he was honest. His arms tightened reflexively around her and he felt a smaller body squirm in the space between them. He heard Lily’s soft snores as the cat twisted so his face was pressed into Gajeel’s side. The dragon slayer felt Lily’s cat ears twitch against his side and he could help but smile. While he’d enjoyed playing dad for a couple days, he was happy to have his little family back to normal. Without opening his eyes, he pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Levy’s head.

 

****

 

It had been a couple weeks since the whole Lily incident, and one week since her missed period. She didn’t want to say she was freaking out as she stood there with Lucy, who was bouncing a little pink haired girl on her hip, but let’s be honest. She was freaking out. 

 

“So I just, hold this lacrima in my hand, and if it glows purple, I’m pregnant and if it doesn’t, I’m not?” She questioned, staring at the offending bit of stone on the counter between them. 

 

“That’s it!” Lucy said, not even bothering to look up from her daughter, who was currently blowing spit bubbles at her mom. Well, it was now or never. Squeezing her eyes shut, she thrust her hand towards the celestial wizard.

 

“I can’t do it Luce, just put the thing in my hand okay,” she said through gritted teeth. Her stomach was doing flips, sending a wave of nausea through her. Nausea that she was hoping was from nerves and not morning sickness. She felt the cold, smooth stone fall into her palm. And then, there was silence. Silence must have been good, if Lucy wasn’t making a big deal, that must have meant nothing. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see Lucy smiling brightly at her as she pointed down at the stone. There, in her palm, the stone glowed a brilliant purple.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SWINGING IN AND READING! IT REALLY MEANS A LOT! Again, if y'all have a prompt, I wanna try to do one or two suggested prompts a week while also working on a long fic <3


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